Sana naging instrumento ang kontrobersya sa Sinovac para matuto ng seryosong aral sa katapatan at walang ikinukubling transaksyon ang mga opisyales na nangangasiwa sa bakuna laban sa COVID-19.

Binigyang diin ito ni Senador Panfilo Lacson, kasabay ng pagsasabing hindi sana natuon sa Sinovac ang atensiyon ng Senado kung hindi nagpatumpik-tumpik ang mga opisyal.

“If they had been more forthright and honest in their responses in our first hearing, hindi mafo-focus sa Sinovac,” banggit ni Lacson sa panayam sa ANC.

Ayon pa sa mambabatas, palagiang handa ang dalawang kapulungan ng Kongreso na makipagtulungan sa ehekutibo kaya nararapat lamang na malaman din nila kung paano ginugugol ang mga pondong kanilang inaaprubahan.

“When the Senate hearings raised more questions than answers about Sinovac, our officials were both tongue-tied and stuttering, leaving us with a string of flip-flopping pronouncements,” bahagi ng privilege speech ni Lacson nitong Lunes.

Related: Lacson Hopes Vaccine Officials Learned Hard Lesson on Transparency

Itinama din ng senador ang paratang na kinakampihan ng ilang senador ang Pfizer kumpara sa ibang COVID-19 vaccines.

“I haven’t heard of any senator who has expressed preference for the Pfizer vaccine or any brand for that matter. What we are doing in the Senate is an exercise of our oversight function over the appropriations laws that we passed, particularly on the purchase of the vaccines,” pagtutuwid ng mambabatas.

Nagpahatid din ng malinaw na mensahe si Lacson kay vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. matapos banggitin ng opisyal na may political agenda ang Senado sa pagdinig na ginagawa tungkol sa bakuna.

“There is no personal or political agenda involved in our inquiry as insinuated by Sec. Galvez earlier. Most of us who participated in the public hearings of the Committee of the Whole merely want to get straightforward and honest responses from the concerned authorities so we will be informed for our future reference in our legislative work. Instead, the resource persons were groping, inconsistent, flip-flopping and even evasive in their responses – hence our misgivings and apprehensiveness,” dagdag ni Lacson.

Inihalimbawa ni Lacson ang mga nakaraang pagdinig na ginawa ng Senado patungkol sa mga nabunyag na katiwalian sa Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Corrections at Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)/Department of Health.

“Enough information was gathered that led to the filing of criminal and administrative cases by the Department of Justice and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, and could have possibly tightened the noose on those responsible for the pillage of public funds or prevented them to further bleed dry the public coffers,” banggit ng senador.

“Isn’t that how the executive and legislative departments work as a team in fighting corruption?” tanong ni Lacson.

Ayon pa sa mambabatas, lumalim ang hinala ng mga senador at maging ng netizens tungkol sa presyo ng Sinovac dahil na rin sa mga sagot ng mga inimbitahang opisyal lalo na sa mga binanggit ni Galvez.

“If at the outset during our first hearing last Jan. 11, he already declared we can get Sinovac vaccines for P700 thereabouts, then that’s the end of the story,” ayon kay Lacson.

Lumalabas umano na base sa mga binanggit ng mga opisyal na inimbitahan sa Senado ay ang mga ito na rin ang lumikha ng kontrobersiya.

“So the controversy is their own doing. It’s not the Senate, it’s not the senators. We’re performing our job, oversight. We did it in the Bureau of Customs, PhilHealth, and Bureau of Corrections. May nangyayari naman pag nag-iimbestiga kami in aid of legislation,” dagdag ng mambabatas.

Nagmistula pa umanong alam na rin nina Galvez at DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III na may parating na 44 million na libreng dose ng bakuna dahil hindi naman nagulat ang mga ito nang masiwalat ang impormasyon sa Senado, gayunpaman, nanatiling tikom ang kanilang bibig.

“As I was observing our resource persons (including Galvez and Duque), I didn’t notice any glow in their eyes or at least an expression of pleasant surprise in their faces, which should have been the case for a normal person after hearing such a wonderful piece of information. 44 million doses! My God, Philippines, my beloved Philippines – at P1,200 per dose as the estimated average cost made by the Department of Finance for purposes of transacting loan agreements with the World bank and the Asian Development Bank, this would translate into P52.8 billion worth of free vaccines!” pagbubunyag ni Lacson sa kanyang privilege speech.

“If we take into account 44 million doses for free from COVAX, the 8.5 million doses from the private sector, and 14 million to be shouldered by the local government units, this could mean the national government may seek a smaller loan from institutions like the Asian Development Bank and World Bank,” banggit ni Lacson.

Malaking halaga pa umano ang matitipid ng pamahalaan kung ang transaksiyon na ito ay isinapubliko nina Galvez at Duque.

“We would not be needing P70 billion to purchase vaccines because of the free doses. Our computations show the national government should need to vaccinate 36 million Filipinos. At P1,200 per vaccine on the average, it would need just P39 to 40 billion instead of P70 billion,” dugtong ni Lacson.

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