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MALACAÑANG defended President Rodrigo Duterte after the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) criticized him for accusing the organization of “greed” after it carried out approximately a quarter of the country’s 2019 coronavirus disease tests (Covid-19 ).
At a virtual press conference broadcast on state-run PTV-4, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the president should be allowed to “say what he wants to say” and “let it go.”
Roque said it was “the responsibility of the People’s Republic of China to interpret what the president said.”
On Thursday, Duterte said the PRC was “mukhang pera” or greedy, just after Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd told him that he had resumed his coronavirus smear tests following government payment of about P500. million of its debt of almost P1 billion.
Senator Richard Gordon, concurrent president of the People’s Republic of China, told reporters in a Zoom interview on Friday that he was not “offended” but advised the president to “really be careful” because “sometimes, he doesn’t realize that the declaration is not really presidential. ” “
Gordon said the president could have been “too hasty or did not get the correct information or could be referring to those [private facilities] taking advantage [the halt in PRC’s testing]. “
Gordon had insisted that PRC be paid at least partially before resuming operations, as it did not have sufficient funds to replenish its supplies, including the Covid-19 test kits.
Since establishing its own laboratory in April, the Red Cross has been testing Filipinos returning from abroad, government and frontline workers, and others who were sampled at state facilities, charging the Corporation for the service. of Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth). It charges individuals separately.
Under an agreement it signed with the government earlier this year, the People’s Republic of China would charge P3,500 for swabs from leaders and other PhilHealth-backed agencies, which would cover the cost of their Covid-19 tests.
On October 27, PhilHealth made a partial payment to the People’s Republic of China worth P500 million for its P1.1 billion debt. PhilHealth paid another P100 million on Thursday.
Gordon said PhilHealth’s outstanding balance stood at P377 million as of Thursday. The senator had asked the state insurer to pay off the balance in three days.
In October, the president assured the People’s Republic of China that the government would pay what it owed. However, he said that the payment could take some time and that he would seek the funds.
Under the Bayanihan Law for Recovery as One, the People’s Republic of China is the government’s primary aid in providing aid to Filipinos during the pandemic, but some of its expenses must be reimbursed.
The Philippines has reported 391,809 Covid-19 cases so far, with 7,461 deaths and 394,974 recoveries.
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