PALACE AUTHORITY. Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, national president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, thanked President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Thursday night (Feb. 18, 2021) for granting authority to local government units to make advance payment for the procurement of their Covid-19 vaccines. In Bacolod, the city government has secured 650,000 doses from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Philippines Inc. expected to arrive in the third quarter of the year. (File photo courtesy of Bacolod City PIO)
BACOLOD CITY – Mayor Evelio Leonardia thanked President Rodrigo R. Duterte for granting authority to local government units (LGUs) to make advance payment for the procurement of their supply of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines.
“This is definitely a giant leap towards accelerating the implementation of our local vaccination programs,” said Leonardia, national president of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), in a statement on Thursday night.
The authority is provided in Presidential Memorandum 51 signed by Duterte after the LCP, through Resolution 2021-01, appealed to the Office of the President to issue an executive order to authorize city mayors to make advance payments for the Covid-19 vaccines contracted by city governments.
Leonardia said Bacolod is among the top direct beneficiaries of the authority granted by the President.
The city government has secured 650,000 doses from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Philippines Inc. that are expected to arrive in the third quarter of the year.
“We are very thankful to President Rodrigo Duterte for the timely issuance of Memorandum Order 51 that will allow cities to make advance payments for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines,” Leonardia said.
Although Presidential Memorandum 51 will have a direct impact on cities that had earlier signed the multilateral agreement with the Department of Health, National Task Force Against Covid-19, and AstraZeneca, it will, more importantly, benefit all LGUs in a similar situation, he added.
He acknowledged the help of Secretary Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against Covid-19, and Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, chair of the Senate committee on health, as well as the guidance of Commission on Audit chairman Michael Aguinaldo when the city mayors were still processing the policies and procedures.
Presidential Decree 1445 requires LGUs to obtain an express authorization and issuance from the President such as an executive order that will allow them to procure vaccines and proceed with the required advance payment market provision in their respective agreements with the pharmaceutical companies.
Leonardia said the city government is preparing the advance payment of 20 percent, based on its contract with AstraZeneca.
“We make sure the city will settle the payment before the deadline to ensure that we get the delivery of the vaccines starting the third quarter of this year,” he added.
According to the LCP, some 300 companies and 39 LGUs from across the country pitched in for the purchase of AstraZeneca’s vaccines under the firm’s “A Dose of Hope” program last Jan. 14. (PNA)
