By GENALYN D. KABILING
President Duterte has offered a bigger reward for the highly-anticipated discovery of a vaccine against the dreaded COVID-19.
Addressing the nation yesterday morning, the President has increased the incentive to P50 million from P10 million for any Filipino who will find the coronavirus vaccine.
Duterte said he might further raise the reward to P100 million if he becomes “happy.”
“‘Yung P10 million sa ating mga scientists dito sa Pilipinas, ‘yung mga doktor, the bright Filipinos working day and night trying to find out how to combat the COVID, I’m raising the bounty to P50 million. Fifty million ang bigay ko sa grupo dahil it is a collegial thing, hindi naman sa isang tao, Duterte said.
“Baka ‘pag sa ligaya ko another P50 milion so that pag nandyan kapag maligaya ako masyado eh di 100. Puro kayo milyonaryo. Huwag kayong mahina na tanggapin ‘yan,” said Duterte, who met with some Cabinet members on modifying the quarantine measures last Thursday night.
Duterte, who has promised to lift the lockdown measures in Luzon if an effective coronavirus treatment is found, had earlier offered a P10-million reward to any Filipino who can invent the coronavirus vaccine.
A substantial grant has also been offered to the University of the Philippines and the Philippine General Hospital to enhance their vaccine research and development.
In his same remarks, the President pledged to allocate more funding for the country’s research and development in the health sector.
He told Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to immediately tell him if the people involved in vaccine research will need more funds. He said he was willing to spend the country’s resources on fighting the coronavirus outbreak.
“Kung kailangan nila ng additional funding, all they have to do, I’m announcing it, is magsabi lang sa iyo and I will be glad to, kung di masyadong malaki, I said ipit tayo sa pera, I will readily give it to them,” he said. “I’d rather use all of our money in connection with COVID, discovery, assistance,” he added.
Duterte also expressed confidence in the capacity of local scientists, saying he recognizes their dedication to find vaccines to promote public health. “What matters to me is the dedication and load of work they are performing,” he said.
He took pride that the Filipino scientists are at par with foreign counterparts, saying it was just a matter of time the coronavirus vaccine will be found. “Pabilisan lang ‘yan,” he said.
The President also renewed his promise to lift the enhanced community quarantine measures if the coronavirus vaccine is finally discovered. He recognized that the coronavirus pandemic will not end unless a vaccine is found.
“Ang COVID hindi matatapos. It will be here, it will stay until kingdom come. Pero kung may bakuna na, baka sakali mauna tayo, ma-embolden ang ating mga scientists to work overtime to come up with vaccine,” he said. “COVID equals vaccine period,” he added.
