Good morning. Thank you very much to the Secretary of the PMS, Secretary Naida Angping; the… Medyo naninibago pa rin ako pagka binabati ko ito eh. Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, my eldest son Sandro; and the Health Officer-in-Charge of course Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire; all my fellow workers in government; all of those who have come here today including our DILG Secretary.

And I have seen that we have all of the arrangements already made for this rollout of the booster. So to all of you, thank you very much for the work that you have done and good morning, magandang tanghali.

Nandito na naman kami as I’m sure you heard that I went to the PinasLakas Vaccination Center in Pasig last week — two weeks ago. The reason is because nakikita naman natin na kailangan na talaga na makapag-booster shot tayong lahat. Kung minsan nahihirapan naming magpaliwanag pero ganito talaga ang nangyari rito.

Iyong unang vaccination, dalawa lang na iniksyon okay na tayo. Noon ‘yun 2020 hanggang 2021. So ang tawag doon “fully immunized” ka na kung dalawa ang bakuna mo. Whatever it was: Sinovac, Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca. Kung anuman ang ibinigay sa inyo, you are considered fully vaccinated.

Ang naging problema ay nagkaroon tayo ng tinatawag na Omicron variant. At ‘yung Omicron, I’m sure narinig niyo naman lahat ito, ang Omicron nagkaroon ng sariling variant. Kaya’t ang sinasabi ngayon sa atin ng ating mga dalubhasa, ang ating mga eksperto, mga researcher, ay sinasabi dahil bago itong variant na ito para maging fully immunized ulit ay kailangan magkaroon ng booster shot.

Kaya’t ito ngayon ang kinakampanya namin na sana eh lalong-lalo na na dahan-dahang pabukas ang ekonomiya. Ayaw natin mag-lockdown. Gusto talaga natin matanggal na ‘yung mask na protocol. Lahat ‘yan hindi natin maiaabot ‘yan kung hindi tayo magpa-booster shot ngayon.

We have many elements that are going to be important, the back to school, the certain parts of the economy, lahat ‘yan, ay aming talagang tinitingnan para makabalik sa trabaho, para makabalik sa eskwelahan. At para maging ligtas tayo, para maging safe tayo ay kailangan talaga we have to encourage everyone to have a booster shot para masasabi natin fully immunized.

Maliwanag naman na ‘yung mga pag-aaral tungkol dito sa vaccine, maliwanag na maliwanag naman kapag vaccinated ang isang tao, kahit magkaroon — ma-expose siya o ma-positive siya ay ‘yung tama sa kanya ay hindi ‘yung hindi na kailangan dalhin sa ospital, karamihan hindi na kailangan dalhin sa ospital, ‘yung karamihan ay asymptomatic pa nga eh.

At ‘yung mga namamatay, maliwanag na mayroon talagang ‘yung tinatawag na nga na comorbidity. So that is why it is very important and it’s very clear the benefits of having a booster shot now to combat the problem with the new variants of Omicron.

Now, I was just told by Usec. Vergeire, mukha namang mayroon nang ilalabas na vaccine para ito, para dito sa mga bagong variant ng Omicron. Kaya’t pag-aaralan natin and if it is going to be helpful ay gagawin natin ang lahat para madala rito sa Pilipinas para mabigay natin sa lahat ng kailangan magkaroon ng booster shot.

And that’s why I am here. That’s why isinama ko si Secretary Benhur Abalos dahil ang local government talaga ay napakalaki ang role na ginaganap dito sa ating vaccine rollout.

At sana naman… And I asked my son to join me dahil naman para makita that even younger people who are still going to… [Younger people ka pa ba? Hindi ka na puwedeng younger people.]

Ako, matagal na akong pinipilit ‘yung pagka-youth leader ko pero siguro palagay ko hindi na puwede. Nandiyan ka na eh.

But I asked him to join me to demonstrate how important it is to us that everybody get their booster. Sapat naman ang supply natin ng mga doses. Kung ‘yung… Mayroon pa rin tayong parating at tinitingnan nga natin ‘yung ating bagong vaccine na baka sakali ay ito ‘yung pinaka-effective kontra dito sa ating mga bagong variant na hinaharap.

So that really is the reason why I have come here today to highlight the importance of having the booster shot. And when we were talking about it, I realized na umabot na ako sa apat na buwan so puwede na ako mag-booster talaga. So that is why to show everyone it is safe, it is effective, and it is needed.

With us trying to open the economy, us trying to open the schools, trying to bring everything back to a normal situation. Sa dami ng hinaharap nating problema, to bring it back to a normal situation and the importance that this booster will play in bringing us back to that condition.

And so I thank all the health workers. As usual, you have been helping us, you have been saving our lives, mga frontliner, you have been saving our lives for the last two and a half years. And so I want to thank you all for all the good work that you have done in the past two years starting when COVID first came.

And I thank you for the continuing work that you have done. Sana maipaliwanag natin nang mabuti at maunawaan ng ating mga kababayan kung gaano kahalaga itong ating booster rollout campaign.

Kaya’t maraming, maraming salamat sa lahat ng tulong ninyo. At ako ngayon, kami ngayon ay magpapa — we will take our shot. [applause]

I’m sure we will be fine. The Usec assures me that I will not lose any time from work dahil hindi naman siguro… And that is again an assurance, not only for me, but for everybody else na hindi naman dahil kalaha… [Is it one half? One-half dose?]

It’s the same dose for the booster. O kahit na magka-booster ay hindi naman tayo tatamaan, hindi tayo mahihirapan. Sana naman hindi na tayo lalagnatin and all that.

But nonetheless, kahit na mayroong side effect ay hindi na tayo — hindi na magiging malubha ang epekto ng COVID at lahat ng mga ibang variant sa atin. Kaya’t napakahalaga na magpa-booster shot.

So maraming salamat sa inyong lahat [applause] and… Pinapatagal ko lang ito kasi takot ako sa karayom. [laughter]

So I will see you. We will have our — we will get — Sandro and I. [Ikaw din ba Sec. Ben? Ah tapos ka na? Tapos ka na.]

Naunahan pa kami ni Sec. Benhur. So we will now go and hopefully this will trigger a reaction from our people and that we will be able now to see that the take up of our vaccination rollout will be higher.

Thank you again very much and good morning. Maraming salamat po sa inyo. [applause]

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