Duterte sees 'no major lapse' by Duque over Pfizer vaccine —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte sees "no major lapse" on the part of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III amid allegations the Cabinet official bungled an opportunity to secure 10 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as early as January next year.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duque was emotional while defending himself before Duterte and other Cabinet members during a meeting on Wednesday night.

Duterte, who has repeatedly defended Duque from allegations of corruption and incompetence, asked his Health chief to respond to the accusation involving the vaccine.

“I think from the overall demeanor of the President eh wala naman po siyang nakikita na major lapse dahil ang pinag-uusapan po ay kontrata at hindi naman po abogado si Secretary Duque,” Roque said.

“At wala rin pong danyos na nangyari because patuloy pa rin po ang pagkuha natin ng Pfizer.”

Senator Panfilo Lacson and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez earlier said the Philippines missed its chance to secure the vaccines early because Duque failed to submit the required Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement (CDA) on time.

Duque’s name cropped up after Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Tuesday that “somebody dropped the ball” on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

In a television interview on Thursday, Duque said the Department of Health (DOH) cannot sign the CDA on behalf of the national government, prompting him, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. to sign the CDA separately.

“When you go through a process, you cannot just be hurrying up things just like that. You have to be prudent and cautious especially because you are talking about a novel vaccine,” Duque told ANC.

Roque said the “conflicting” statements of Duque and Locsin did not matter because only Galvez has the authority to secure vaccines.

The Palace official also said the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses are expected to arrive in the country in the second or third quarter of next year.

“Mukhang naman pong imposible talaga makakuha tayo ng Pfizer ng January kasi ‘yung January deliverables nila completely paid for na by the rich countries,” Roque said.

“Let’s not speculate anymore at ang importante ay patuloy po ang pag-uusap.” --KBK, GMA News