Senator Panfilo Lacson backs the construction of a COVID-19 mega vaccination site in Nayong Pilipino in Parañaque City.
“Ano bang mas importante ipil-ipil o yung buhay ng Filipino (What is more important— the trees or the lives of the Filipinos)?” Lacson asked.
“That’s a no brainer and here’s a private company, a business, na nag-o-offer ng help, kasi, and rightly so, hindi naman ito ginagawa ni Mr. [Enrique Razon Jr.] only for the Filipino people. Remember he’s losing a lot because ang employees niya rin apektado rin,” he added.
(That’s a no brainer and here’s a private company, a business that is offering help and rightly so, this is not being pushed by Mr. Razon only for the Filipino people. Remember he’s losing a lot because his employees are affected too.)
Government Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. urged the Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) to allow the construction of a mega vaccination site in the area, a plan the foundation is unsure of.
Lacson supports construction of Nayong Pilipino mega vaccination site
Galvez said the NPF Board of Trustees (NPFBT) has yet to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 for the construction of a mega vaccination site at the Nayong Pilipino.
According to the NPFBT, they are apprehensive about the vaccination site construction since 500 trees needed to be cut down for the project.
The ICTSI Foundation would fund the construction of the vaccination and Felino “Jun” Palafox is the architect.
“[W]e 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,” said Galvez.
Galvez said the planned vaccination center would be able to facilitate around 10,000 individuals daily.
The Philippines seeks to vaccinate 500,000 individuals daily in the National Capital Region, and 200,000 individuals nationwide.
“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,” said Galvez.
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