MODERATOR: Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat. Welcome to “A Dose of Hope”, the ceremonial signing for the second wave of the vaccine donation from the private sector donors and local government.
On November 27, you were witness to this commitment by private sector donors – about 37 of them – to donate vaccines to the Philippines. Now, six weeks later, you are witness again to another commitment, this time by an unbelievable exponential number of private donors and the government.
As we start our program, let me call on again our Presidential Spokesperson, Spox Harry Roque, to introduce this program.
SEC. ROQUE: Thank you very much, Josephine. Si Josephine po ang ating Executive Director ng Go Negosyo at siya po talaga ang, kumbaga, the mover of the project. But in the same way that we have a mover, we have an originator, ang utak po behind “A Dose of Hope”, wala pong ibang kung hindi ang ating Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship, Mr. Joey A. Concepcion.
PRES. ADVISER JOEY CONCEPCION: Good afternoon. First of all, I would like to thank first our Secretary, Secretary Charlie Galvez. Without your support, this tripartite agreement would have not been possible.
Also, I’d like to thank the CEO of AstraZeneca, Lotis Ramin. Without your doses, we will not be here today to sign this agreement. We admire your company and your patriotic—that this vaccines are really the way forward in helping our Filipino people save lives and livelihood.
Of course, Ambassador [Daniel] Pruce for all your efforts in forging this partnership and helping in the negotiations move forward.
And the private sector, our donors. In the first batch was about 35 of the conglomerates who supported the program in November 27; and in the second batch, about 300 companies this time supported the program.
And of course, our LGUs who are now part of Dose of Hope, 39 of them. And thank you to President and Secretary Galvez for allowing the LGUs to be part of this tripartite agreement, and forge one of the best public-private partnerships that I’ve seen; achieve a common goal of bringing the vaccines to the Philippines specially at times like this.
And moving forward, we hope that AstraZeneca will continue to support us. As we know, demand for vaccines especially coming from both LGUs and the private sector is quite immense.
And the Philippines definitely will not be left behind in this fight. We will be vaccinating our Filipino people, hopefully starting June, July. Seventeen million vaccines will be signed today, procured, and this is a commitment that they will all be delivered in the year 2021.
Again, thank you to all our donors, both private sector and LGUs. Maraming salamat!
SEC. ROQUE: Thank you very much, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion for sharing your vision and your enlightening insights.
Before we proceed, we are live on PTV 4 as part of our regular presidential briefing. We’re also live on PTV 4 Facebook page, on the Presidential Spokesperson Facebook page, as well as the Facebook page of Go Negosyo. You can watch and share this event using the official #ADoseOfHope – diri-diretso po iyan ‘no.
At this point, ladies and gentlemen, we have a special message from no other than the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte:
There is light at the end of the tunnel. National recovery is within sight. As we bounce back and heal as one, I commend the business community and the LGUs for your ramping of support for our nation’s fight against COVID-19. This agreement partnership between the national government and the LGUs and the private sector. You have my full support. Together, we can ensure a safe, sure and secure roll out of our national immunization program. Today, let us reaffirm our vow to ourselves and renew our guarantee to our people.
From approval to vaccine administration, laging nasa sentro ang kalusugan at kaligtasan ng bawat Pilipino. Our tripartite agreement is a true showcase of unity, of purpose and principled partnership benefiting our public. This bayanihan at work.
To everyone involved in the ‘A Dose of Hope’ project, I congratulate you on this achievement. To all who help and continue to grow this tripartite partnership, maraming salamat po. We now have the weapon to defeat this virus – the vaccine. And let us win the war and save lives and livelihood.
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas. Mabuhay ang Pilipino.
SEC. ROQUE: Walang iwanan, walang maiiwan. Iyan po ang pangako ng Presidente sa gitna ng pandemya ng COVID-19: Lahat po tayo ay mababakunahan. At ang gagawin natin ngayong hapon brings us closer to our goal of universal vaccination for the entire Filipino nation. Maraming salamat sa inyong mensahe, Presidente Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
Now, to fully recognize the support from our government partners, let us now here from the appointed czar for COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines.
Mga kaibigan, pinagkatiwalaan po ang taong ito ng ating Presidente dahil siya po ay walang bahid sa kaniyang pangalan; siya po ay kinikilala na isang bayani – bayani na nagligtas sa Marawi, wala pong iba kung hindi ang Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., ang ating Vaccine Czar.
SEC. GALVEZ: Maraming salamat po sa ating Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque.
May I also acknowledge and thank the British Ambassador, His Excellency Daniel Pruce; ang atin pong Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship, Secretary Joey Concepcion; ang ating country representative ng AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Madam Lotis Ramin; Madam Josephine Romero, A Dose of Hope program lead; sa atin pong mga business partners na nandito po ngayon; sa ating mga LGUs na nakikinig; sa atin pong mga media personalities; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon to everyone.
First of all, I would like to thank and congratulate all our partners – the national line agencies, the local government units, the private sector organizations, the British government and AstraZeneca for making this second wave of commitment possible.
SEC. GALVEZ: Our event today is anchored on President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s directive of providing safe, effective and free vaccines for all Filipinos. This initiative is not only a dose of hope but a pound of inspiration that will help us realize our collective goal of inoculating 50 to 70 million Filipinos this year.
We acknowledge the crucial role of our LGUs and the private sector, have played in our National Immunization Program. With your continued support, we will be able to identify, validate and respond to the needs of our priority beneficiaries based on our geographical and sectoral strategy.
This tripartite agreement is a symbol of Duterte administration’s resolve that no one will be left behind. Wala pong maiiwan, wala pong iwanan. Under our whole-of-government, whole-of-nation society approach, we are working with all stakeholders and through this undertaking we are seeing the strong bayanihan spirit of all Filipinos.
We would like to assure our countrymen that the government’s vaccine procurement efforts are science-based and are being carried out under the guidance of our Vaccine Expert Panel. This will ensure that all the vaccines that we will be purchasing are safe, effective and affordable.
As we formalize our partnership, we believe that the implementation of our National Vaccine Program will not only be less daunting, but also more efficient and strategic because of the invaluable contribution of the LGUs, and the private sector headed by our Presidential Adviser Joey Concepcion.
The national government would like also to express its gratitude to AstraZeneca for allowing this noble tripartite agreement to happen – one of its kind. We have no doubt that this partnership, which will enable us to save more than 8 million lives from the menace of the virus will be a resounding success.
Special thanks to the British Ambassador Daniel Pruce for his continued guidance and shepherding with this noble undertaking. Thank you for leading us and also thank you for sending the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in our country to seal this commitment.
Ceremonial signing is just the start of our growing partnership which we expect to strengthen in the coming months. I am very confident that we will be able to sustain this initiative because of our commitment, determination and generosity that I have seen in each and every one of you.
Sir Joey, maraming salamat po sa inyong leadership at kung wala po kayo, talaga pong hindi po mangyayari ito. Special thanks also to Ma’am Tessie Coson who also initiated this undertaking.
I would like to leave you with a quote from the late US President Dwight Eisenhower who said: “The Supreme quality of leadership is unquestionable integrity.” I would like therefore to humbly ask the Filipino people to have faith in your government under the leadership of our President – President Rodrigo Roa Duterte – that we are doing everything with integrity and honesty, everything on what we do. Rest assured that we are doing our best to ensure your health and safety. Put an end to this pandemic and revive our nation’s economy.
Ang ating pangunahing layunin ay pangalagaan ang kalusugan at kaligtasan ng bawat Pilipino. Maraming salamat po at mabuhay po tayong lahat.
SEC. ROQUE: Maraming salamat po sa ating living hero, the liberator of Marawi – Secretary Galvez.
Let us now call on our vaccine initiative partner, please welcome the Country President of AstraZeneca Philippines, Madam Lotis C. Ramin.
MS. LOTIS RAMIN: Thank you Secretary Roque and good afternoon everyone.
The bayanihan spirit lives on. Working together to address the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic and pave the way for our return to normalcy, this is what this project is all about – ‘A Dose of Hope’ – providing solutions the Filipino way.
AstraZeneca maintains our strong commitment to ensuring [garbled] and equitable access to the vaccine at no profit for the duration of the pandemic. It started with the private sector, BDO, and the local government units reaching out to us and to the national government that led to the creation of this multilateral models. With the relentless leadership of Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion and Secretary Carlito Galvez, and a strong support of Her Majesty’s Ambassador Daniel Pruce, we made it happen.
Today, we are delighted to conclude 17 million doses which can reach millions of Filipinos through the close collaboration between AstraZeneca, the Philippine government, local government units and private sector donors. We are working closely with regulatory authorities to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccine lives up to the highest safety standards and its introduction complies with healthcare regulations in the Philippines. We’re working with Philippine FDA on the preparations for a swift yet thorough science-led Emergency Use Authorization review.
I’m really inspired by the commitment I’ve seen with all the stakeholders working with us on this project. This is a significant step to rise above the pandemic as one nation. Thank you for trusting AstraZeneca at kami po ay nagagalak na makatulong sa ating bayan at makapagbigay ng isa sa mga solusyon laban sa pandemya.
Maraming salamat po.
SEC. ROQUE: Thank you very much, Ms. Lotis C. Ramin. Now this initiative would not have happen without the active intervention of Her Majesty’s government, specifically His Excellency Ambassador Daniel Pruce, whom I have met by Zoom in the last quarter of last year. To deliver a special message from Her Majesty’s government, ladies and gentlemen, His Excellency, Ambassador Daniel Pruce, British Ambassador to the Philippines.
AMBASSADOR PRUCE: Thank you very much indeed for that kind introduction and I’m absolutely delighted to be here this afternoon and have the opportunity to join this wonderful event. I’m extremely pleased to AstraZeneca in partnership with so many local government units and so many members of the private sector and with the support of the government of the Philippines, we’ll be able to supply such a significant amount of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine later this year.
The British government supported the research at the University of Oxford which led to this vaccine and we are proud that our scientific community was able to deliver this important contribution to the global efforts to fight the coronavirus. I should also like to pay tribute to AstraZeneca for their partnership with the University of Oxford, but also their commitment to supply this vaccine on a not-for-profit basis. The United Kingdom is doing all it can to ensure equitable access to – as Secretary Galvez put it – safe, effective and affordable vaccines which have been developed transparently. And today marks an important milestone towards achieving that here in the Philippines.
I congratulate everyone, everyone in the room, everyone joining us on this incredible video wall behind us. I congratulate you all on your dedication to securing a successful conclusion to this negotiations, so that the people of the Philippines can look forward to a better and safer future.
Thank you very much indeed.
SEC. ROQUE: Thank you very much Your Excellency, British Ambassador Daniel Pruce.
Now we proceed to the most important part of the program. Let us proceed to the ceremonial signing and photo opportunity with our stakeholders who are very much supportive of this initiative.
We are pleased to say that more than 300 companies and 39 LGUs across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are committed to support this endeavor. We would like to invite them on screen to join us for the ceremonial signing and photo opportunity. We shall have them on our official Zoom screen so please may we request again all representatives to kindly turn on your videos. Of the 39 LGUs, we have 30 LGUs present in today’s ceremonial signing.
At this point, we shall begin with the signing of the documents to be followed by a group photo.
Josephine will read the LGUs represented in the signing today.
MODERATOR: We have with us Caloocan City, Makati City, Mandaluyong City, Manila, Muntinlupa City, Navotas, Pasay City, Pasig City, Quezon City, San Juan City, Valenzuela and Las Piñas for NCR.
For Luzon, we also have with us the Governor of the Ilocos Norte Province, Isabela Province, and Nueva Ecija Province and also Quirino Province.
The rest of Luzon, we also have these following mayors of these LGUs: Baguio City, Dagupan City, the Municipality of San Nicolas, Pangasinan; Puerto Princesa City, Pulilan Municipality in Bulacan, Sta. Rosa City in Laguna, Taal Municipality in Batangas; Vigan, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Ormoc City, the Municipality of Palompon, Leyte; Bacolod City, Iloilo City, Davao City, Oroquieta City and Zamboanga City.
SEC. ROQUE: There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. We just have signed a very historic partnership between the public and private sectors to ensure walang maiiwan, walang iwanan.
A big round of applause please for this historic moment involving collaboration between the national government, the local government units and the private sector!
Can we ask everyone now to pose for a historic group photo to mark this historic event. At the count of three, say, “vaccine”! One-two-three…thumbs up.
MODERATOR: And another historic photo, please flash your memoranda of agreement in front of your camera. I think this is what your constituents and your employees are looking for. This is proof that you have committed to this donation for wave two of A Dose of Hope. Congratulations, everybody.
We would like to say thank you to our special guests here in the studio. You braved coronavirus to ensure that this ceremonial signing is something that will be memorable for our community, private sector and our local government.
We would also like to say thank you to Spox for ensuring that we have a smooth ceremonial signing. It is an invaluable contribution to private sector and to national government and local government to have you do you do your presser with us today.
Our next message, another special message that we welcome as an acknowledgement of all our efforts will be coming from none other than Senator Bong Go. Let’s listen to this:
[VTR]
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SOURCE: PCOO-NIB (News and Information Bureau)
