Senator Leila de Lima (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“Duterte wishing VP Leni dead is no damn joke! It is exceedingly vile and evil, satanic and stupid, and extremely unpresidential,” De Lima said in statement.
“The Office of the President is the primary implementer of the Constitution’s design, not a murderer’s evil desire,” she further stressed.
The Palace earlier stood by Duterte’s tirade against the vice president following her insistence that the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine should be first endorsed by the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC). Duterte also dared Robredo to “go shop for COVID-19 vaccines” as the Chief Executive lamented how rich countries in the West have been cornering supplies of the vaccines, making it difficult for the Philippines and other poorer nations to secure doses.
Finally breaking her silence, Vice President Leni Robredo said that President Duterte sounded unpresidential when he went on a tirade against her during his late-night pre-recorded address to the nation on Monday night.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has no authority to release the late-stage clinical trial data China’s Sinovac Biotech submitted to the agency, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday. DOH spokesperson Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said only Sinovac had the right to publish its vaccine data amid the call of health workers to see the clinical trial findings as regards its COVID-19 vaccine.
Robredo not opposed to Sinovac, but questions exemption from HTAC mb.com.ph - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mb.com.ph Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech is already undergoing review by the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC), Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Tuesday.