City mayors to unveil local vaccine plans

MANILA, Philippines — Four city mayors are scheduled to present their local COVID-19 vaccine plans at a webinar entitled “Getting Cities Ready for the Vaccines” today at 3 p.m.

League of Cities of the Philippines president and Bacolod City Mayor Bing Leonardia, LCP vice president and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, LCP PRO and Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez and Makati City Mayor Abby Binay will discuss how their LGUs are working to build public acceptance for COVID vaccines and allocate shots equitably among their residents.

The webinar is organized by the Liveable Cities Challenge together with the LCP and Globe Telecom. It is part of a series of online sessions that aims to gear up cities with insights to design better solutions for their communities in the new normal.

Leonardia, who also heads the LCP, expressed his excitement about the event.

“We are thrilled to share the progress our cities have made after being in talks and signing agreements with vaccine manufacturers,” he said.

The mayor added: “The event is very timely since this gives me and my fellow mayors at the LCP a chance to show that city LGUs are doing their part to support the government. I have been advocating for teamwork between the national and local in implementing the largest vaccination program in the country and we will show in tomorrow’s event that we walk the talk.”

Together with other local chief executives at the LCP, Leonardia was at the forefront of advocating for a more active role of cities in vaccine procurement and deployment.

The LCP recently lauded President Duterte’s directive to allow LGUs to increase their advanced payments for COVID vaccines beyond the limit set by government procurement rules. This was after it made an appeal to the Palace by way of a resolution adopted by 117 cities in the country.