By Mark Angelo Mañez
 |
| PHOTO: Inquirer.net |
MANILA, Philippines — There would have been no need to use
the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US to secure doses of its COVID-19
vaccines had procurement efforts at home went well, Vice President Leni Robredo
said on Sunday.
President Rodrigo Duterte made the threat over the holidays
to finally end the decades-long military deal with America if Washington fails
to deliver some 20 million doses of its vaccines.
In her weekly radio show, the country's top opposition
figure said stirring tensions with other countries comes uncalled for,
especially with two vaccine candidates — Pfizer and Moderna — coming from the
US.
"'Di naman tayo kailangan magbanta kung nasa ayos naman
'yung programa natin sa procurement ng vaccines," she said over DZXL.
"Maraming bagay na hindi natin kailangan at this point and 'yung
makipagaway na wala namang basehan, hindi 'yun nakatutulong."
The president's remarks came after the botched negotiations
for Pfizer's 10 million doses by this month, along with concerns that it was
late into talks for buying vaccines, which had since been denied by officials
despite Duterte only allowing advanced payments in November.
As 2020 came into a close, the global race to secure doses
in countries' bid to return to normalcy had heightened, with over 12 billion
doses now secured per a tracker despite no jabs out yet in the market.
"Kung ginawa natin 'yung ating trabaho, makakukuha
tayo," Robredo said. "Dapat 'yung conversation ini-inform 'yung mga tao
kung nasaang stage na tayo, saan ba tayo nakapila [at] ilan ba 'yung
dadating."
The Philippines is so far sure of 2.6 million doses of the
British-Swedish AstraZeneca from a P600 million-donation of the private sector.
Despite senior administration officials' repeated assurances
during the weekly televised coronavirus task force meetings, government has not
signed any deals yet with drugmakers.
Its bid to inoculate 24.7 million Filipinos early this year
is also facing doubts with the Senate set to hold an investigation when it
resumes session on the government's vaccination program.
Senators in particular had been hesitant on Duterte's move
to terminate the VFA with the US, which he made in February 2020 after
Washington cancelled the visa of his ex-police chief and now Sen. Bato dela
Rosa over his role in the bloody anti-drug war.
It went as far as members of the upper chamber, including
the Senate leadership, taking the matter to the Supreme Court and asking
magistrates to rule if the chief executive has the power to abrogate treaties
without Senate concurrence.
Now, as Duterte pushes with his threat anew, lawmakers
warned that such could limit the country's options for a vaccine for the
COVID-19 that has gripped the country hard.
"[The] 'no vaccine, no VFA' threat upon the US is
totally inappropriate, mercenary and lessens the dignity of the
Philippines," Sen. Richard Gordon had said.
Malacañang has denied that president's threat is blackmail
but is part of an "independent foreign policy" that has seen the
Philippines foster ties with non-traditional allies like China and Russia.
The VFA between Manila and Washington was ratified by the
Senate in 1999, years after the chamber rejected the extension of US military
bases' stay in the Philippines.
It has since been criticized for allowing foreign troops in
the country and for keeping the Philippines dependent on the US.
By the first days of 2021, coronavirus infections in the
Philippines had reached nearly 477,000 with over 9,200 dead.
The count remains the second highest in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia's over 758,000. The glaring difference, however, is Jakarta is already secured of 335 million doses, while Manila is still finalizing talks.
RELATED ARTICLE: Philippine Star