During a congressional hearing last June 14, Mindanao lawmakers raised their concern over the criminal negligence and favoritism of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) in the distribution of vaccines against Covid-19.

They blamed vaccine czar Gen. Carlito Galvez for the deaths of patients in the island for neglecting the lawmakers’ urgent demands. The regime delivered vaccines to Mindanao a week earlier but majority of the supplies were given to the province of Davao and Davao City wherein Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter Sara is mayor. Data by the Department of Health indicate that the region received 210,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. On the other hand, two other regions only received 30,000 doses each. These include provinces in Region 10 and Cagayan de Oro City wherein a number of politicians openly oppose the Dutertes’ scheme to remain in Malacañang.

Majority of the vaccine supplies were given to the National Capital Region despite rising cases in Mindanao and Visayas. Even then, Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno, who also happens to oppose the younger Duterte’s candidacy, complained against the sluggish distribution in the region.

Data as of June 17 indicate that 14 million of vaccine doses have been delivered to the country. Only 1.7 million of these were distributed in Mindanao. Of the 1.7 million residents of Manila City, only 354,000 have been inoculated.

Nationwide, only nearly 7 million individuals have been vaccinated, with only 1.8 million inoculated twice. Among ASEAN countries, the Philippines is the third slowest in inoculating residents.

Meanwhile, the IATF refused to publicize where the ₱82.5-billion budget allocation for the procurement of vaccines went. All of the vaccines received by the Philippines are donations from the Covax Facility of the World Health Organization.