VACCINATION HUB | Philippines wants to build vaccination hub, ignores environmental concerns

May 10, 2021 , 09:06 PM

(May 10, 2021) – President Rodrigo Duterte is setting aside environmental concerns to build a vaccination hub at a theme park in the capital, his spokesman said on Monday, urging the state agency operating it to approve the mega project.

Harry Roque said the executives of the Nayong Pilipino Foundation should think about the life-saving project and comply with the president’s orders without hesitation.

The Nayong Pilipino is a government-owned and controlled corporation, he said.

“Sana naman ang desisyon nila ay ‘wag kokontra sa napakahalagang misyong pangalagaan ang buhay ng ating mga kababayan. This is part of the inherent police powers of the state,” Roque said.

In an earlier statement, the Nayong Pilipino Foundation expressed concerns over the planned construction of a vaccination facility inside the theme park in Parañaque City, saying it will damage the biodiversity in the area.

Some 500 trees will be cut down to begin the construction of the project, which may also affect a nearby protected area called the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area.

They said the vaccination hub is also close to a quarantine facility in the same area, which could pose health risks to people getting the jabs.

Nayong Pilipino Foundation has also raised a proprietary issue because the vaccination hub will be operated by a private group, ICTSI Foundation, which contradicts Presidential Decree No. 1445, which is the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines.

“We also wish to comply with environmental laws which are still in effect amidst the pandemic,” the Nayong Pilipino Foundation said. “The NPF property is not a vacant lot but has a thriving urban forest that hosts a variety of urban wildlife and is the last remaining grassland in the reclaimed area of Parañaque.”

“Once [trees are] lost, it could take decades to recover this ecosystem. A mega-vaccination facility that will destroy this ecosystem would be a disaster and a disservice to the residents of Metro Manila who need more green and open spaces.”

There were reports that Nayong Pilipino’s executive director, Lucille Karen Malilong-Isberto, an executive director, has resigned.

But Roque said he was unsure if the president approved the resignation.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., in a statement on Sunday, stressed there was an extreme urgency to address the public health crisis, saying they did not want to downplay the position of the foundation. More than 10,000 people could be inoculated once the facility has been constructed.

“The construction of these mega vaccination sites is in line with the national government’s strategy of aggressively and continuously expanding the coverage of our immunization program by including more priority sectors,” Galvez said.

“We believe it is inappropriate for the NPF to equate the fate of 500 Ipil-Ipil trees with the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of Filipinos … We would like to emphasize that the government deeply cares for the environment. But as the pandemic wreaks havoc on the lives of our people and our economy, we have to make the choice.”

(Beatrice Puente/MM)

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