PAO, gov’t mismanagement blamed for delayed COVID-19 vaccines

Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said the mishandling of the Dengvaxia case by the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) contributed to the delays in arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in the country.

“To me, the indemnification requirement is borne out by the events that transpired in Dengvaxia controversy. Why suddenly the manufacturers required an indemnity clause? Because of their experience on the way the Dengvaxia controversy was handled against Sanofi,” Drilon stressed in an interview with ANC on Monday.

Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez had earlier said that manufacturers are seeking an indemnity agreement following the news of warrants of arrest against Sanofi officials involved in the Dengvaxia.

“It should be looked at in the context of the way PAO Chief Persida Acosta handled the Dengvaxia controversy,” he added, lamenting how the PAO chief’s handling of the case burdened the poor health workers who were made defendants in the cases filed all over the country.

Drilon said that given the unfortunate experience of health workers in the Dengvaxia case, it is only proper to include a provision in Senate Bill No. 2057 or the Expediting the Procurement and Administration that Congress is expected to pass this week that will shield volunteers, like health workers, who are authorized to carry out the COVID-19 vaccination program from suits and liabilities, except arising from willful misconduct.

However, Drilon clarified that the free and harmless clause would apply only to vaccines validly procured, not to smuggled vaccines.

But the minority leader said the indemnity issue is not the only reason for the delay as he cited mismanagement in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy.

“To me, this is not the only reason. I think just like the way COVID-19 pandemic was handled, there is mismanagement in handling the supply agreements,” he said.

“Even the President asked, where are the vaccines? This is already a sign of exasperation,” he added.

Drilon asked: “Bakit wala pa ang bakuna hanggang ngayon kung saan yung ibang bansa na mas mahirap pa sa atin ay mayroon ng vaccines?”

Among the 10 countries in Southeast Asia, six countries are already inoculating their citizens, namely: Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. Only the Philippines together with Malaysia, Brunei and Thailand have not started the vaccination, he noted.

Drilon added that another factor, the refusal of the government to make advance payments, contributed to the delays.

“This advance payment is authorized under the law. We have to queue and we are last in the queue because of our failure to make an advance payment early enough,” he pointed out.

Under existing laws, Drilon said the government, including local government units, are allowed to make an advance payment beyond the mandated 15 percent cap particularly in emergency situations such as the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

Drilon also defended Congress against criticisms that the delay is caused by its inability to pass a measure that will provide for an indemnity fund.

“That’s totally unfair. There are indemnity agreements that have been signed in some instances and that was without a law. It is the mismanagement of this entire process that caused the delay in our procurement,” he said.

The former justice secretary said that the President does not need a law to hold the manufacturers free and harmless except when they are negligent, emphasizing that the President has full power to bind the country.

He added that the government can easily tap into its billions of pesos contingent fund to fund an indemnification system.

Nevertheless, Drilon agreed that putting it clearly in the law will help improve the confidence level of the citizenry on the vaccines as he vowed support for the measure that will fast-track the procurement and administration of the COVID-19 vaccines.

“Even if I am in the opposition, this is a bipartisan measure and we will support it. We will support it with proper safeguards and correct principles. In fact, I have requested that I be made co-author even though I am the minority leader, because we want to show our people that when it comes to this matter there is unity in government,” Drilon said.