Duterte tells public: Get vaccinated or die

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has advised people who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID to buy their coffins or prepare their cremation plans as they would surely die of the virus.

Duterte said the government has done everything it could to convince people to avail themselves of the vaccines, but others still refuse to do so.

“Sabi nga ‘pag nabili ‘yong lahat ng bakuna, sobra, kasi maraming tumatanggi (Once all the needed vaccines are purchased, there would be excess supply because many refuse to be inoculated),” Duterte said during a pre-recorded public address on Monday.

“Now ulitin ko ulit. ‘Pag hindi ka nagpabakuna, mamamatay ka talaga. So planuhin mo na ‘yong buhay mo kung paano pagdating ng panahon... Bili ka ng kabaong o magpasunog ka. Magkano ang bayaran mo at maghanap ka na ng pwesto sa sementeryo. Ganyan ‘yan eh. Ayaw ninyong magpabakuna? Patay kayo sigurado (I will repeat: if you do not get vaccinated, you would really die. So plan your life, buy your coffin, have yourself cremated. Determine how much you will pay and find a slot in the cemetery. That’s the way it is. You do not want to be vaccinated? You will surely die),” he added.

Duterte said the government could not provide for those who do not want to get vaccinated with medicines that are not part of the national budget.

“You can say that you can be brought to the hospital. But the rich can buy all the medicines that are very expensive,” he said.

“If that (medicine) is funded under a contingency fund, it’s possible. But for now, I will tell you, to those who do not want to be vaccinated or are afraid to be vaccinated, goodbye to you. That’s what you deserve. Goodbye,” he added.

A Social Weather Stations survey conducted from April 28 to May 2 indicated that only 32 percent of Filipinos were willing to be inoculated against COVID.

A third of the respondents, 33 percent of them, were not willing to avail themselves of the pandemic shots while 35 percent were unsure about the matter.

Officials have given assurance that all vaccines approved by food and drug regulators are safe and effective against COVID.

They said all vaccine brands could protect the recipient against severe and critical COVID and prevent hospitalization and death.

AFP, PNP vaccine rollout

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has started its immunization against COVID for its frontline personnel or those belonging to the A4 category.

PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar received his first dose of China-made vaccine Sinovac during a ceremonial vaccination at Camp Crame yesterday.

The initial batch of 500 vaccines for PNP members under the A4 category were given to Camp Crame and the National Capital Regional Police Office, which received 200 doses each, and 50 each to the Special Action Force and Aviation Security Group.

More doses will be supplied to the police force as more vaccines are expected to arrive in the coming months.

More than 26,000 PNP members contracted COVID since last year, with 71 dying from the virus.

At present, the PNP has 1,942 active cases.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has resumed the vaccination rollout for its personnel at Camp Aguinaldo.

As of June 11, a total of 34,978 AFP personnel received their first dose of Sinovac vaccine, while 34,390 got their second dose.

Records show that 3,339 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines have been delivered to military treatment facilities in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao as of June 10.

Fully vaccinated

Jose Cardinal Advincula is now fully vaccinated against COVID, a few weeks before he officially assumes his post as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Manila, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reported yesterday.

Advincula received his second dose of the unnamed vaccine last month. He urged the faithful to get vaccinated against the virus.

Advincula will be installed as the 33rd archbishop of the Archdiocese of Manila on June 24.

Meanwhile, Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos also announced on social media that he is fully vaccinated against COVID, saying he received his second dose of the vaccine last month.

In another development, the CBCP said the Commission on Catechesis and Education of the Archdiocese of Manila prepared a short catechetical video presentation on the topics for the installation of Advincula.

Manila apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo encouraged Catholics to participate in the nine-day spiritual preparations for the installation of Advincula, which started yesterday morning.

Pabillo said the preparations started with a “prayer of gratitude for the gift of our new archbishop” which was held yesterday shortly after the post-communion prayer of the mass.

He urged parishes to organize charitable activities such as feeding programs and distribution of food bags or gift checks for families who were greatly affected by the pandemic.

He said Caritas Manila would distribute P50 million worth of gift certificates for 50,000 families in different parishes. – Emmanuel Tupas, Michael Punongbayan, Robertzon Ramirez