President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he is “inclined” to approve calls to provide western-made Covid-19 vaccines to Filipino seafarers if required for work.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed that Duterte is open to allowing seafarers to be vaccinated with vaccines authorized for use by the European Union such as Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson and Johnson, in a pre-recorded meeting with Duterte and other Cabinet members.

“Sinabi niyo na po kanina (You already said earlier that) you’re inclined to grant the request so maraming salamat po (so thank you very much),” Roque told Duterte.

Duterte said he did not see anything wrong in allowing seafarers to choose their preferred vaccine as a violation of the 1987 Constitution.

Under Section 1, Article III of the Constitution, “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any persons be denied the equal protection of the laws.”

“We are ready to vaccinate them with the western brand… There is no violation of the equal protection of laws but this is what the nature of their work requires,” he said.

He, however, emphasized that all Covid-19 vaccines are equally safe and effective regardless of where they were manufactured.

“To us there is no distinction, lahat ito (they are all) effective. And as a matter of fact, a lot of countries have used Sinovac…I have not heard of any news or whatever to show that there are complaints about the disparity in the efficacy of these vaccines,” he said.

Duterte denied that he is considering giving western-made vaccines to seafarers because they are “superior” than other brands.

“Itong (These) US-made [vaccines] cannot be a superior brand than the Chinese and other brands in comparing them with each other. Tsaka ang the best talaga na bakuna, sabi nga nila, yung nandiyan sa harap mo (And the best vaccine is the one that’s in front of you),” he added.

Meanwhile, he dared critics claiming that allowing seafarers to choose their preferred brand to prove that the policy would be a violation of the equal protection of the laws.

“Pakita muna nila sa atin na mas mahusay itong western-made kaysa itong China. Kung makikita nila ‘yan, it is superior, then…they have to prove it, then that is the time that you can say there is a violation of the equality of laws,” he said.

He clarified that the government was not giving seafarers special treatment by allowing them to receive western brands.

“It is not given to the seafarers not because they are a special breed kundi kailangan mo bigyan dahil (but we need to give them western-made vaccines because) their work requires the vaccination of US-made or western brands,” he said. (PNA)