Lacson says corruption in purchase of China's Sinovac possible

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Sunday maintained that there could be corruption involved in the government's procurement of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, given the "sharp differences" in the prices of the vaccine in the Philippines and in other countries.

In a statement, Lacson pointed out that while Sinovac may only cost $5 per dose, its price in the Philippine could go as high as $38 or more than P1,800.

He mentioned a news article from Bangkok Post dated January 16 showing that, according to figures from the World Health Organization and from the manufacturers themselves, the price of one dose of Sinovac is only $5.

Data from the Department of Health given to the Senate Committee on Finance during the budget deliberations last year, however, indicated that the price of Sinovac was P3,629.50 for two doses, he added.

"The difference in prices of Sinovac vaccine at US$5, US$14 and US$38 reminds me of an old story about how corruption is committed in three Southeast Asian countries -- UNDER the table, ON the table, and INCLUDING the table," Lacson said.

"Here, it may cost $38.50 (P1,847.25) per dose but is covered by a Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement," he added.

Amid Lacson's claims, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque maintained that Sinovac's price in the Philippines would only be around P650 per dosage, similar to its pricing in other countries.

Roque said though that the actual price could not be disclosed yet.

"Ang presyo ng Tsina pwede nilang baguhin, wala silang pakialam, depende kung sino ang bibili. Yun ang dahilan kung bakit ayaw ipa-anunsyo mismo ng Tsina kasi nga baka magalit yung hindi nila masyadong BFF na alam nilang bumili nang mas mahal," Roque said in an earlier interview with Dobol B sa News TV.

"Fake news yung kumakalat na P3,600 per dose daw ang singil ng China. Ang ating presyo, bagamat hindi pa pwedeng i-anunsyo talaga kung ano talaga ang presyo ng Sinovac ay hindi lalayo sa presyo ng Indonesia na bandang P650 kada turok," he added.

The Philippines aims to inoculate 50 to 70 million people within the year, and an estimated 50,000 is expected to be vaccinated in February.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the vaccine manufactured by American corporation Pfizer could be the first that will be used against COVID-19 in the country as the COVAX Facility will have an early rollout of the said brand. —LBG, GMA News