Bordado to question gov’t inaction on LGUs vax buy

By Paulo DS. Papa

Camarines Sur 3rd District Representative Gabriel Bordado Jr., will question vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr., and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in Congress over their continued inaction or failure to approve the multi-party agreement required by the different vaccine makers before local government units (LGUs) could purchase their own vaccine requirements.

Bordado in a media interview said numerous LGUs in the country are complaining against the two officials for their continued inaction on the multi-party agreements required by vaccine companies.

He said that majority of city and municipal governments all over the country have allocated funds and completed the needed requirements to purchase their own vaccines, however, until now Galvez and Duque have not acted on the multi-party agreement needed by the LGUs to buy the vaccine.

To recall, the Naga City already allocated P 63 million to purchase thousands of Covaxin vials from Bharat Biotech, an Indian biotechnology company.

P13 million of the P63 million was sourced from realigned funds intended for the dancing water fountain project of the city government, while P50 million was approved by the city council for the vax procurement.

Mayor Nelson Legacion scrapped the project and the fund for its construction was realigned for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines.