‘They didn’t answer the question’: Leachon denies seeking government position

MANILA – A former government adviser who raised concerns about the Duterte administration’s prioritization of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, said Tuesday that he was not running for public office against Malacañang’s claims.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque previously said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s televised weekly speeches were edited to remove repeated curses against former adviser Dr. Tony Leachon. This, after Leachon questioned the government’s preference for vaccines made in China like Sinovac Biotech despite questions about the drug’s effectiveness and previous allegations of bribery.

Leachon said he was just asking “a fair scientific question to win people’s trust in terms of their acceptance of the vaccine.”

“It is not personal to me and I would like to reiterate and emphasize that I am not running for any public office. I am not going to be a public official in the future. I do this without expecting anything in return.” “he told the ANC’s Matters of Fact.

“You can see my record as a public health advocate and I have nothing to gain from this particular advocacy job.”

Leachon said a cabinet official texted him and told him there was nothing true in the president’s curses about his comments.

“They said it was just made up,” he said.

The doctor, however, said he was not surprised by Malacañang’s reaction as “they were not open to criticism” when he was part of the National Working Group against COVID-19.

Leachon had voiced his criticism of the government’s response to COVID-19.

“The only thing that surprises me is that they did not answer the question about the efficacy and safety data and then resorted to these types of attacks,” he said.