Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Salceda seeks to expedite the country’s procurement of anti-coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, to finally ensure the people’s protection against the deadly virus.

Salceda in filing House Bill Number 8285, or the Bayanihan sa Bakuna Act, believes that his bill will be able to remove roadblocks on “vaccine procurement, distribution, and administration.”

“I have authored Bayanihan sa Bakuna Act to cut all the red tape and eliminate any further delay in getting the public vaccinated. The vaccines are available. We have the money. We know the costs of delaying the vaccine. So, we must not tolerate any further delay in getting our people vaccinated,” Salceda said.

“All channels – political, diplomatic, commercial – should be used to procure and roll them out expeditiously and without undue delay,” the House Tax Chief wrote.

Not having a vaccine until today according to Salceda, results to around P2.1B lost wages a day.
The General Community Quarantine (GCQ) period meantime results to some P700M lost wages a day, Salceda said.

“But is nonetheless a major blow to household incomes, particularly during this period of economic hardship, where involuntary hunger has reached unmatched heights in the country’s recent history,” Salceda said.

Salceda estimates, GDP losses, under the ‘new normal’ suffers economic losses registers some P85 billion a day.

“The country can no longer absorb the economic losses of any further restriction in economic activity. This has to end. And there is no better way to end this pandemic than with the quick rollout of the vaccine,” Salceda commented.

The Bayanihan sa Bakuna Act, penned by Salceda, gives the President the following authority:

1. Exempt vaccine procurement from circuitous procurement laws;
2. Set forth a mandatory vaccination program for health care workers;
3. Assume health care workers’ medical bills due to COVID-19, including side effects of the vaccine;
4. Engage the Philippine Red Cross in rolling out the vaccine;
5. Liberalize the grant of tax incentives for importation of the COVID-19 vaccine;
6. Create savings from unutilized appropriations, and directs them towards vaccine procurement;
7. Allocate funds held by GOCCs and national government agencies towards COVID-19 procurement;
8. Accelerate private sector requests for authorization to import COVID-19 vaccines; and
9. Facilitate LGU requests to import COVID-19 vaccines, provided that these requests do not compete with the government’s efforts to procure such vaccines.