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THREAD: Presidential Spokesperson @attyharryroque holds a media briefing | LIVE http://bit.ly/2K2iu3R
Updates by @laratyan and @meltlopez
Updates by @laratyan and @meltlopez
Roque: Hindi ho kami nagkulang sa paalala. Para maging-merry ang Christmas, kailangang mag-ingat
Roque on slight improvement in consumer outlook for Q4 and 2021: Tumaas ang kumpyansa ng mga negosyante at ng consumers sa ating ekonomiya http://bit.ly/384Z3Qd
Roque: We have hit rock bottom, the only way is up
Roque: Hindi pa lumalabas na mayroon na tayong surge pero kailangan pa rin mag-ingat
Roque says there's been a big drop in cases in Central Luzon
Roque says 60% of ICU beds, 71% ward beds, 80% ventilators are available
Roque: Ngayong nagdidiwang tayo, bagamat pwede lumabas sa restaurants, bawasan natin ang pagsasalita habang kumakain. Kapag nandyan ang pagkain, quiet muna
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. says the Philippines is in 'intensive negotiations' with 9 vaccine firms, including Pfizer and Moderna
Vaccine czar Galvez says PH in negotiations with 9 vaccine developers. Talks with 4 companies are 'advanced'
Vaccine czar Galvez cites challenges in vaccine negotiations: 80% ng supply ay nakuha na ng mayayamang mga bansa
Vaccine czar Galvez: Most probably baka magkaroon tayo ng vaccine by March 2021. Next tranches ay sa 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter. Ang volume ay dadating sa 3rd quarter
President Rodrigo Duterte only approved advance payments for COVID-19 vaccine supply in mid-November, well after other countries did http://bit.ly/2IKBbZk
Vaccine czar Galvez: Pfizer has the most advanced process because it has secured emergency use authorization in several countries
Vaccine czar Galvez says his team will meet Johnson & Johnson tomorrow to hopefully finalize number of vaccine doses for PH
Vaccine czar Galvez says his team will work to sign deals with a vaccine firm this month, but it is more likely to happen in January 2021 after they receive their emergency use authorization from other countries
PH ambassador to China Chito Sta. Romana on supply of China-made vaccines: The offer stands from the Chinese leadership
Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to prioritize PH for vaccine supply http://bit.ly/3gL9ufA
PH ambassador to China: The priority status of PH stands, but the question is what are the procedures here for procurement?
PH ambassador to China: Chinese drug makers have to ramp up production even for their local needs. PH needs to continue talks
Vaccine czar Galvez says he met with Sinovac executives last Friday: We conveyed our need for 25 million vaccines for 2021
Vaccine czar Galvez: The meeting was very conclusive... We are in dire need for a vaccine. We want to finalize the negotiations with Sinovac this week
Vaccine czar Galvez: Sinovac says they will have the supply here in April, but we're negotiating to have it by March
Roque says COVID-19 testing laboratories should declare if they are charging a separate fee for certifications of results
Roque on proposal for unified quarantine protocols nationwide rather than devolving decisions to LGUs: Matagal na itong pinag-uusapan sa IATF. Metro Manila can be a model as mayors decide on common policies
Vaccine czar Galvez on $9B credit line from ADB for vaccines: We are told we can tap anywhere from $300-500M http://bit.ly/346aZji
Vaccine czar Galvez says the number of active cases in Metro Manila is rising, hovering close to 3,000
Vaccine czar Galvez: The IATF will be recommending Duterte to make an announcement to be 'extra cautious' during the holidays
PH ambassador to China cites initial reports on Chinese vaccine clinical trials: There's a side effect of pain where the vaccine was injected, but nothing adverse
Roque on Sen. Leila de Lima's proposal for free vaccination: Salamat kasi inulit niya lang ang sinabi ng Presidente
Roque on rising reproduction or COVID-19 infection rate: Kung totoo po ang 0.99 to 1.06, it's not a big jump but it tells us to take caution
Roque on increasing reproduction number in Metro Manila; Kung totoo na naging 1.06 from 0.99, hindi naman malaking pagtaas iyan. But it is telling us na mag-ingat dahil may bahagyang pagtaas
Roque says one area in Northern Luzon has requested to be placed under stricter modified ECQ, but the decision was for the area to be placed under GCQ
What triggers a return to lockdowns?
Roque: Ang tinitingnan ay critical care capacity. Ngayon, maluwag pa ang mga ospital
Roque: Ang tinitingnan ay critical care capacity. Ngayon, maluwag pa ang mga ospital
PH ambassador to China: We're waiting for announcement from Chinese authorities for general use of Sinovac, Sinopharm and other Beijing-made vaccines
PH ambassador to China: There are other companies with under clinical trials that experienced some side effects, but the key is finding out if the result was due to the vaccine or not
What's the policy for Filipinos who got vaccinated abroad and will decide to return home?
Vaccine czar Galvez: We still have to stick to the current rules, but we will make some recommendations
Vaccine czar Galvez: We still have to stick to the current rules, but we will make some recommendations
Vaccine czar Galvez says a maximum of 20 people may gather in an open air location, and with minimum health standards observed
PH Ambassador to China says Sinopharm has finished with phase 3 trials, Sinovac is finishing theirs: China has vaccinated their army
PH Ambassador to China: The source of confidence in Chinese vaccines is the regulator approval here and the experience in clinical trials in other countries. This will be validated by our FDA
PH Ambassador to China on China-made vaccines: The basis of confidence is based on the Chinese experience and the experience in other countries. But this has to be validated by our own authorities
Vaccine czar Galvez on China-made vaccines: The adverse effects are manageable, the recipients of some vaccine trials are Filipinos abroad
Vaccine czar Galvez says PH to procure Sinovac, Sinopharm, CanSino vaccines from China: Priority namin ang Sinovac
Vaccine czar Galvez on Sinovac: Three times lower siya sa Sinopharm at capable siya mag-produce ng 20 million doses
Vaccine czar Galvez: The directive of the President is to make the vaccines accessible to the public
PH Ambassador to China on Sinopharm clinical trial data: We will facilitate contact between the company and the IATF
Roque on ₱72.5B vaccine fund under the 2021 budget, ₱70B of which are unprogrammed or do not have concrete fund sources yet): Makakautang po tayo para dito
Vaccine czar Galvez: We have 4 means to access the fund, and we agreed to have ADB as our procurement manager and funder for transparency
Vaccine czar Galvez: The $1B (about ₱50B) allotted by DOF using money from the ADB will be used for the initial vaccine purchases. The money in the 2021 budget will be used to buy syringes, other materials
Roque says 5pm cabinet meeting with Duterte to push through today
Vaccine czar Galvez says experts see 2-3 billion people globally may not be vaccinated in 2021 due to limited supply
Vaccine czar Galvez: Out of 200 vaccine makers, isa pa lang ang naaprubahan, which is Pfizer
Vaccine czar Galvez on AstraZeneca's withdrawal from clinical trials in PH: Hindi sila nag-withdraw, ang iniintay lang ay kung half or full dose ang gagamitin. They are waiting for cues from headquarters on which dose will be used for the trials
Both the FDA and DOH have confirmed that AstraZeneca withdrew its application to hold clinical trials in the Philippines http://bit.ly/3moF97X
Roque says the clinical trial may be foregone if a vaccine is approved for use abroad
Roque on return of truck ban in Metro Manila: That's a concern for the MMDA, the President does not micromanage
Vaccine czar Galvez on COVID-19 testing: We are averaging 20,000 to 30,000 a day. We have tested over 5 million people
Vaccine czar Galvez on alleged absence of testing czar Vince Dizon: Continuing pa rin ang testing. Sa areas na tumataas ang kaso, nandoon na po si Sec. Dizon. Siya ang nagrerespond sa may spikes
Roque: What pressure can China exert on us when we're friends with all countries? The possibility of using COVID-19 vaccines for pressure is almost nil
Can China use vaccine supply to put pressure on PH?
PH Ambassador to China: In reality, the Chinese offered vaccines to improve their standing in the world. Geopolitics has not come up in the discussions http://bit.ly/3oSGlSD
PH Ambassador to China: In reality, the Chinese offered vaccines to improve their standing in the world. Geopolitics has not come up in the discussions http://bit.ly/3oSGlSD
Were supply agreements held back by Duterte's initial rejection of advance payments?
Galvez: We saw there was a way around the procurement law by securing the President's approval
Galvez: We saw there was a way around the procurement law by securing the President's approval
Vaccine czar Galvez: When we saw that we can use ADB to finance the advance payments, we proposed this and was approved
Vaccine czar Galvez: The ADB budget will be unlocked by Dec. 15 pa lang. Even if we started earlier, we would not have been able to use it yet
Vaccine czar Galvez on vaccine procurement: Hindi siya late. Ang delivery ng vaccines is dependent on the global supply chain
Vaccine czar Galvez: We're using the ADB to fund the vaccine procurement because our budget laws are very limited
Roque clarifies that Duterte doesn't want the 'Western vaccines' because they are asking for advance payments, so he wants those made by China and Russia.
Duterte approved the advance payments to secure COVID-19 vaccine supply in November
Duterte approved the advance payments to secure COVID-19 vaccine supply in November
Roque on NLEX RFID fiasco: We leave that to the Toll Regulatory Board. DILG is also involved in the issue now
Roque says Palace has not yet received the approved 2021 budget bill from Congress as of 12 noon
Roque on questionable budget provisions: The President has track record in rejecting such provisions in the budget
Roque reveals that Dr. Tony Leachon, a public health expert who was told to leave his post as NTF adviser, has been repeatedly cursed by President Rodrigo Duterte in his speeches but were only edited out in aired videos
Roque warns Leachon, saying that Duterte is not pleased with his public statements on COVID-19. He alleges that Leachon wants a government post
Vaccine czar Galvez, who hired Leachon months ago as NTF adviser, now says it's hard to work with Leachon
Roque and Galvez commented against Leachon after they were asked about his recent post questioning PH government's preferred vaccine manufacturers
Vaccine czar Galvez: After the discussion on logistics, we will know how many vaccinators we will need and the cold chain units for vaccines
Roque says Duterte needs to receive the budget soon for proper review prior to signing
Duterte's address to the nation is rescheduled to Wednesday due to the Cabinet meeting tonight, Roque says
