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Jan 17, 2021 09:27 AM EST
Illegal coronavirus vaccines plotting the country s black market have prompted the senate to call for an inquiry.
Members of the security detail of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte issued Covid-19 vaccines in September and October. But no shots were approved for use in the country, either then or now.
Late on Monday night, Duterte instructed the soldiers of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) not obey the summons and that they stay put in the barracks, saying that he would not allow them to be brutalized for all their good intentions before a Senate investigation.
Amid rising resistance to Chinese products, Beijing has declared intentions to donate half a million coronavirus vaccine shots to the Philippines, Manila officials said on Saturday.
The Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been accused of being extremely slow in taking an action for buying coronavirus vaccine for a population of nearly 110 million people.
By REGINE CABATO | The Washington Post | Published: January 16, 2021
Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reports here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. MANILA, Philippines The message in late December wasn t meant for Jesse, a newcomer working at an offshore gambling operator in the Philippines. But her eyes fell on a group chat on her colleague s unattended phone, detailing plans to administer coronavirus vaccines this month to her Chinese co-workers. Her colleague had sent their peers a reminder to make sure when they get vaccinated, they have to wear long sleeves . . . to cover the cotton after the injection, said Jesse, a Filipino who chose to go by her nickname for fear of reprisal. And you re not supposed to say anything to other employees.
(Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers’ Office / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Barbers said he found it “laudable” that some 300 members of the PSG decided to inoculate themselves with the anti-COVID vaccine that had reportedly been donated to them.
“Pabor ako na una sila (PSG) because sila ang frontliner ng Pangulo kaya dapat lang na mauna (I favor them being prioritized because they are the President’s frontliners, so it’s only proper that they are the first),” said the solon, chairman of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs.
Despite this, Barbers still expects the PSG to participate in an inquiry – should the House call for it – regarding the circumstances behind the vaccines, which the lawmaker suspects are smuggled goods.
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