Duterte wants government-to-government deal for COVID-19 vaccines

October 27, 2020 - 9:19 AM
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President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malacañang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse in Malacañang Park, Manila on October 19, 2020. (Presidential photo/Richard Madelo)

MANILA — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he would favor a government-to-government deal for the purchase of coronavirus vaccines to prevent the risk of corruption.

“Let me tell everybody that we will not beg, we will pay,” Duterte said in a weekly televised address. “To the Chinese government, you need not look for partners, we can make it government-to-government.”

The Philippines has the second-highest number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Southeast Asia behind Indonesia. —Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales Editing by Ed Davies