Palacio: Duterte speech edited to remove curses in front of former adviser who expressed concern about China vaccine

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte’s televised weekly speeches were edited to remove repeated curses against a former government adviser who expressed concern about the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Malacañang said on Monday.

Dr. Tony Leachon previously asked, “Isn’t it worrying that the government is still prioritizing vaccines for which there is not enough safety and efficacy data?” This is in relation to the Philippines’ offer for 25 million doses of China’s Sinovac Biotech coronavirus vaccine.

When asked to react to this, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said: “I’ll be honest with Dr. Leachon – it was just released in Talk to the People, but the president has cursed it many times.”

(I’ll be honest with Dr. Leachon, Talk to the People was just edited, but the president has cursed it many times.)

It is not immediately clear how many of the president’s speeches were edited to remove the comments.

“He (Duterte) said, whatever you say, you just want a government position. The next time the president insults you, I will insist that he show it to the people,” Roque said at a press conference.

(He said he’s saying various things, but he just wants a government job. The next time the president curses him, I’ll insist that he show it to the people.)

“You may think that the president is happy with you, no,” he said.

(You may think the president is happy with you, he is not).

Vaccine Czar Carlito Gálvez, who was at the briefing, said Leachon was difficult to work with. “May sariling world (he has his own world),” the official said.

Leachon was a former advisor to the Interagency Task Force against COVID-19. He said he was fired from this position after he tweeted on June 13 that the health department “lost focus” in terms of pandemic priorities and data management.

Leachon said he only raised a red flag on the efficacy and safety of certain vaccines “so that we can purchase the right vaccine for our country.”
He said that while he once dreamed of serving the government, now “he had no future ambitions to be a civil servant.”

“It is painful to be accused of something that is baseless and false. I have been an independent advocate for health care reform for many years. I have the utmost respect for our president and the government,” he said in a statement.

“I would like to spend my last years with family, closest friends and doing advocacy work,” he added.