President Rodrigo Roa Duterte asked Filipinos Wednesday to trust information coming from the government and shun misinformation targeting the current immunization drive against COVID-19.
Citing a presentation of vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr, the President said the Philippines ranks third in the ASEAN vaccination rollout based on Bloomberg and reports from Foreign Service posts as of May 2021.
At the top of the ranking are Indonesia and Singapore followed by the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Brunei.
“Nakita naman ninyo third tayo. Maniwala kayo kasi nasa gobyerno kami. Hindi kami puwedeng maglagay diyan, mag-post ng ganito na sinungaling. May parusa ‘yan. Malaking parusa ‘yan if we impose a lie to the people in connection with our work,” President Duterte said during his address.
Although the Philippines started late in its vaccine rollout, it was able to cope, posting a daily rate of 133,114.
“So ibig sabihin, makakaya po natin ‘yong sinasabi nga ni Secretary Duque na pagka may volume na tayo, kayang-kaya na natin ‘yong 500,000,” Galvez explained.
“Hindi po ‘yon magiging imposible dahil nakikita po natin sa ngayon, kulang na kulang po tayo sa volume pero ngayon po mabubuhos po ‘yong volume natin na mga 6 million ngayong May.”
The country has breached the two million mark on vaccines administered as of Tuesday with 1.7 million Filipinos receiving the initial dose of COVID-19 jab.
Meanwhile, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano reported that a total of 17,687,755 beneficiaries already received the aid intended for low-income families and individuals.
So far, the government has distributed a total of P17.6 billion out of the P22.9 billion given to the local government units (LGUs), Ano said, vowing to finish the subsidy distribution by May 15. PND
