President Rodrigo Duterte, in a pre-recorded announcement addressing the public, had said that he ordered the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to impose penalties on local government units (LGUs) and local mayors who are performing poorly corresponding to their COVID-19 vaccination program.
PRRD said that he was not content with the current vaccination rollout and that there were “fault lines” specifically in terms of the distribution of doses at regional and provincial levels.
“Di ko malaman kung saan talaga nagkakamali, kung may mali. Bakit mahina ang paglabas ng bakuna? Dito sa national, medyo okay. Ang problema, pagdating doon sa provincial, regional level, doon nagkakaroon ng medyo problema,” the president added.
The Head of State then ordered Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., who also serves as the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar, together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to provide all the necessary support to LGUs particularly in the delivery of vaccines and mobilization of resources.
Pres. Duterte said that he had given the order to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, stating, “I have also ordered Secretary Año to impose the necessary sanction against LGUs and local chief executives who are not performing nor using the doses given to them in the most expeditious manner.” He even added that all LGUs and Local Chief Executives will be held accountable for their poor performance on establishing a successful inoculation program.
The Chief of State also pointed out his hopes on LGUs and Local Chief Executives to take their time attending such problems of delay.
“Ang dapat lang pagdating doon talagang nandoon na yung mga tao, the human resource side would be ready to do the injections,” Duterte said, adding that he also directed authorities to ensure the sufficient number of healthcare workers on every vaccination site who will be administering jabs.
Vaccine Czar Galvez said in October that the Philippines completed a total of 27,360,873 jabs, surpassing the target of 25 million fully vaccinated individuals.
Meanwhile, the Philippines achieved its highest jabs per day, with 724,294 jabs and the highest jabs per week with 3.7 million jabs.