'Tweet nang tweet ito': Duque says no 'balls dropped' in deal for syringes

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s health chief on Monday denied that the government had “dropped the ball again”— this time for the opportunity to obtain millions of syringes needed for the vaccination program as alleged by the nation’s top diplomat.

Over the weekend, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted that the Philippine government agencies refused to discuss an offer of 50 million syringes. He, however, did not specify those involved.

“Hindi totoo ‘yun. Kasinungalingan ‘yun, puro kasinungalingan ‘yun,” DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said in an interview on dzBB.

(That’s not true. That’s a lie, purely a lie.)

We dropped the ball again; this time offer of 50 million syringes. Discussed the need in Washington DC and got a response prepared to go into details with PH agencies but they refused to discuss the ball let alone catch it. First Pfizer, then Moderna. Ok, I see the pattern.

— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) December 11, 2021

"Ang gusto ni Locsin, sumunod kami sa gusto ng supplier na presyo. Ay hindi naman pwede ‘yun. Hindi naman kami g*go para gawin ‘yun. Meron tayong batas diyan—Republic Act 9184," he added, referring to the Government Procurement Reform Act.

(Locsin wanted us to follow the supplier’s price. That’s not allowed. We’re not stupid to do that. We have a law for that.)

According to Duque, the supplier "backed out."

Agencies: We have enough syringes

In a statement issued on Sunday, the DOH and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said there are enough supplies of syringes—both the 0.3 ml syringes needed for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and the 0.5 auto-disable syringes for all other vaccines.  

Last month, the government lowered its target for the three-day mass vaccination drive to nine million doses from the initial 15 million due the delay in the delivery of procured syringes.

NTF and DOH said two batches of syringe procurement were undertaken through the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. The two batches of procurement through the UNICEF totaled to 52 million of 0.3 ml syringes at around P3.25 per piece.

The DOH also purchased 100 million pieces of 0.5ml auto-discharge syringes in April this year for P2.38 per piece. The two agencies said the amount of P2.38 or USD 4.8 cents per piece was used as the basis for the ongoing emergency procurement of another batch of 50 million pieces of syringes.

In a separate tweet, Locsin said the DOH’s offer of "4.7 cents a syringe is hallucinatory."

"No one on the planet makes PFIZER LOW DEAD VOLUME SYRINGES that cheap; 7 cents is the absolute lowest," he said.

Far as I'm concerned it's finished; but if you want a fight, Ph DOH's offer of 4.7 cents a syringe is hallucinatory; no one on the planet makes special PFIZER LOW DEAD VOLUME SYRINGES that cheap; 7 cents is the absolute lowest. UNICEF pays double. Make all purchases public.

— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) December 11, 2021

'Tweet nang tweet ito'

Duque said he will discuss the matter with President Rodrigo Duterte.

This was the second time Locsin accused the health department of dropping the ball in pandemic-related purchases. In December 2020, he said “somebody dropped the ball” in the government’s negotiations with vaccine maker Pfizer.

Duque denied this, saying the country’s talks with Pfizer was ongoing at the time.

On Monday, the health chief expressed disappointment that Locsin did not reach out to him to clarify the matter.

“Tweet nang tweet ito, hindi man lang ako tawagan. Open naman ang communications namin. Pareho naman kaming nasa administrasyon, 'di ba? Madali naman mag-usap for clarification, 'di ba?” he said.

(He keeps tweeting and he did not call me. Our communication lines are open. We are both from the administration. It’s easy to ask clarification.) — Gaea Katreena Cabico