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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has communicated with the United States regarding an alleged campaign run by its military to sow hesitancy among Filipinos with regards to Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines.
Speaking at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga said they immediately reached out to the US after the Reuters article was published.
“We reached out immediately to the US Embassy and to US authorities through our regular consultations and mechanisms. The initial response was that we were referred to the Department of Defense—so we also got a copy of the statement that you had read,” said Chan-Gonzaga.
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The statement neither confirmed nor denied the alleged conduct of such a secret campaign against Chinese vaccines.
“Essentially, they are looking into the matter and though we have not received any official and formal response yet in terms of confirmation, denial, or anything we are waiting on that. We continue to monitor and to ask for information,” he added.
Sen. Imee Marcos, who was presiding over the hearing as chairperson of the Senate panel on foreign relations, appealed to the DFA to continuously seek answers from the US Department of Defense.
Marcos earned DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo’s assurance who then emphasized that they are doing so, adding that if there is anything alarming in their reply, they would immediately seek assistance from relevant agencies.
“Let’s work together, many Filipinos fell seriously ill. Many Filipinos died, we don’t know if it was a direct result of this. But we can see from the numbers that its effect is truly terrifying. So, we should be all hands on deck on this matter,” Marcos answered.
The Reuters article in question was published mid June. It indicated that US officials supposedly launched the campaign as a payback for Beijing’s efforts to blame Washington for the pandemic.