Duterte, close to tears, warns of bleak months ahead

MANILA, Philippines — Weeks after saying that Filipinos will prevail over the pandemic, President Duterte warned of “bleak months” ahead and admitted that he is having a hard time addressing the COVID crisis amid the continuous infection surge and limited vaccine supply.

Duterte said the pandemic is taking most of his time and likened his situation to passing through purgatory.

“I’m having a hard time. I’m grappling with the issue of COVID. It takes most of my time actually. More than any other papers, it’s the COVID that is taking my time or most of my time looking for ways, checking what is happening outside,” Duterte said during a pre-recorded public address on Monday, his first since placing Metro Manila and the nearby provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan on lockdown.

“Hay buhay. Kung alam lang ninyo... Para akong dumadaan ng purgatoryo ngayon at this time hanggang hindi matulungan ang lahat ng Pilipino (Oh, life. If you only knew... I’m like passing through purgatory at this time until I am able to help all Filipinos),” he added.

Duterte said among the problems that the government has to deal with is the difficulty in accessing COVID vaccines, something that he said makes him want to cry.

He said the problem stemmed from the fact that the Philippines is not a vaccine-producing country.

“That is how hard it is para makakuha lang talaga tayo... Gusto ko na ngang umiyak sa harap ninyo pero naubos na ang luha ko (That is how hard it is for us to get vaccines... I want to cry in front of you but I have run out of tears),” Duterte said.

He said while the Philippines just received one million doses of COVID vaccine from Chinese firm Sinovac, the shots are just enough for the medical frontliners.

He admitted there is no assurance yet that the 1.2 million vaccine doses scheduled to arrive in April would be delivered on time.

“That’s how difficult the situation in the world is... We want to buy, we have money, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank said, ‘OK, we will lend you.’ The money is made available to us. I suppose that is what the bank has told our people. The problem is it’s not enough,” Duterte said.

“So we expect a very, not really a dark future, but we expect bleak months... baka mahawa ka nga eh. Ang problema mahawa ka (You might get infected. The problem is if you get infected),” he added.

Duterte appealed for patience and understanding from the public, saying the government is working to secure more vaccines despite the tight global supply.

“Now, we are really doing our very best, the best of our best talent (to get) the vaccine from anywhere to reduce the transmission,” the President said.

“We have to understand the government... Stretch your patience and be understanding a bit. We are doing our best. We are not a vaccine-producing country. We do not have the expertise, we do not have the knowledge, medical-scientific knowledge. So we are waiting,” he added.

Duterte assured the public that the week-long lockdown imposed in Metro Manila and nearby provinces – now collectively known as the National Capital Region-Plus bubble – was not intended to cause sufferings.

“I would be the last person in the Philippines to cause suffering to Filipinos. If only I had the power...like a magic wand to immediately remove this problem, I would do it,” he said.

Earlier this month, Duterte told Filipinos not to despair as he expressed optimism that they would be able to overcome the pandemic.

He noted that Filipinos have been through more difficult problems, even describing the COVID-19 problem as “a small thing in our life.” Malacañang clarified that Duterte was not belittling the pandemic but was just reminding the public that the crisis shall also pass.

‘Improving’

Despite concerns on vaccines due to misinformation, Sen. Bong Go said that public confidence has improved as more Filipinos are expressing willingness to get vaccinated.

Go continued to remind Filipinos not to fear COVID vaccines, saying vaccination is an essential first step toward restoring normalcy in the country.

“Don’t be afraid of the vaccine, be afraid of COVID. The vaccine is the only solution. Let’s trust our government because it is doing everything,” Go said.

“As I move around the country to help victims devastated by fire incidents, floods and other disasters, I can sense that many people now want to get vaccinated,” he said.

“But now let’s first gain the trust of the people because many are still afraid of the vaccine. We put the frontliners first because they are the ones fighting this war. We must arm them because we cannot see the enemy,” he added.

Go confirmed the arrival of one million Sinovac doses purchased by the government on Monday at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

He said the arrival of more vaccines would be a great boost to the country’s national vaccination program.

Go urged local government units to follow the government’s vaccine priority list and stop conducting VIP vaccinations.

He urged all Filipinos to strictly follow health protocols and cooperate in efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Go appealed to the government to hasten the provision of social amelioration to Filipinos affected by stricter quarantine restrictions.

“I am appealing to the national government to speed up the release of the ‘ayuda’ or assistance. Let us not delay. People are waiting. We don’t want our people to wait or get hungry,” he said.

Due to export restrictions in the United Kingdom (UK) on AstraZeneca vaccines, the Philippines’ target to inoculate millions by the second quarter of the year might be affected if deliveries suffer delays due to scarcity of supply in the global market.

National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. raised this possibility due to calls for AstraZeneca to fulfill its orders first in Europe before shipping out the vaccines outside of the UK.

Galvez said the Philippines has a “tight supply” of the vaccines as he attributed this to the fact that the COVAX Facility is prioritizing other countries.

He said they are working with counterparts to ensure that they will abide by their commitments to deliver on certain time.

As of March 29, the Philippines has deployed about 1.23 million vaccine doses nationwide. It received around 1.5 million doses from Sinovac and over 500,000 from AstraZeneca.

Galvez is optimistic that the deals with the private sector, particularly those which are coming from manufacturing sites within the region, will push through as scheduled.?“We have information that the delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine will not be delayed,” Galvez said.

The situation remains to be seen for Novavax, which the Philippines is procuring from India. “But for Novavax, I believe the situation is very fluid and we saw during the time of July wherein most of these countries will be able to complete their vaccination program to at least 50 percent of their population.  We can see that during the time July or August there will be easing up of supply in the global market,” he said.

Based on Galvez’s timeline, the government is hoping to get a total of 11.5 million doses of the vaccines in the second quarter or from April to June.

Galvez said the government would meet today with representatives of Johnson & Johnson to finalize the supply agreement.

“The supply agreement for Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Novavax had been finalized and we will be finalizing supply agreement with Johnson & Johnson and the Gamaleya. We have also a meeting with Pfizer this morning and hopefully all of these contracts will be finished this coming first week or second week of April,” he said. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Christina Mendez