By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, managing to make himself the villain again, is driving me crazy.
Senator Panfilo Lacson Jr. recently dropped a bombshell, nay, delivered a punch in the gut, when he bared that the Philippines had practically scuttled its supply of the Pfizer-made COVID-19 vaccine after Duque had neglected to submit the necessary paperwork for the deal.
This is the same Duque who is perceived to have screwed up COVID-19 prevention and response in the country, resulting in over 456,000 infections and 8,800 deaths; and is the PhilHealth chairman of the board who somehow wasn’t aware of the massive fund misuse occurring under his nose.
Now we won’t be getting our early shipment of 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine just because Duque didn’t sign some papers.
Was he too cautious or just plain lazy? He’s said it’s the former, contending that the subject of the needed documents was a “novel vaccine”. The last time I checked, every vaccine for COVID-19 that’s being developed is novel or new, even Duque’s beloved Sinovac. This is the 2019 novel coronavirus that we’re talking about, after all.
The Health Chief’s reason for his inaction is as cheap and flimsy as Christmas lights that came from a “duty-free bangketa”. I hope it doesn’t put more Filipino lives in danger.
It also implies that he knows better than Health authorities in countries over in the West, which have begun mass immunizations using Pfizer’s wonder drug. Whether or not Duque is a cut above the rest of his Western counterparts is a tricky question to answer, but his track record should speak for itself.
I am curious as to what Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose “Babes” Romualdez and Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. think about Duque’s indifference (Lacson’s word, not mine), given that it’s these two diplomats who have been painstakingly negotiating for the Pfizer vaccine shipment with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo since July.
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Teddy Boy, in particular, could very well be seething. I can almost hear him flawlessly chaining together four-letter words in perfect English. At least he and Romualdez can take solace in the fact that they weren’t the ones remiss in their duty amid this fiasco.
Speaking of the “Duque of Hazard”, what a wasted opportunity to change the narrative on his end. By facilitating the advance supply of the COVID-19 vaccine — whichever flag is attached to it — he could have shown to his countrymen that he understands urgency, something he’s hardly demonstrated during both this pandemic and the PhilHealth issue.
What does the rulebook say again? Three strikes and you’re out?
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