Malacanang said that President Rodrigo Duterte wants to have the country’s own vaccine institute as his legacy to the Filipino people before his term ends in 2022.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that Duterte already instructed the Budget Department to set aside funds for the vaccine institute.
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“This is the instruction now that the DBM should have a substantial amount of funding available so we can establish a vaccine institute to enable us to manufacture our own vaccines,” Roque said.
Malacanang said that Duterte wants to be the president who founded a vaccine institute and the country will no longer rely on other countries for vaccines.
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“Napaka-intimate iyong pagkakasabi niya sa amin, ‘Even though I am not anymore the President, I want to solve the problem of the Philippines in terms of really securing and eliminating the disease that we have,’”Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez said.
“Kasi alam naman ng Presidente na talagang ang Pilipinas ang dami nating kailangang vaccine not only for COVID-19 but also to other fatal diseases that we have right now,” he added.
