Gross injustice is how President Rodrigo Duterte described any effort
to deny poor nations access to COVID-19 vaccines.
In a recorded message played during the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on COVID-19, Duterte said poor nations should not be left behind in gaining access to the vaccine that will put a halt to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President also enjoined governments to act “not as separate
nations, but one humanity.”
“If any country is excluded by reason of poverty or strategic
unimportance, this gross injustice will haunt the world for a long
time. It will completely discredit the values upon which the United
Nations was founded,” Duterte said in his recorded message.
“We cannot let this happen, no one is safe unless everyone is safe,” he said.
Duterte pushed anew for universal access to safe and effective COVID-
19 vaccines and technologies, stressing that “life-saving services and
products must be made accessible to the most vulnerable — the most to
the least.”
“Our first priority is to strengthen the capacity of health systems.
Without the cure and vaccine, we can only delay the spread of the
disease,” he said.
Duterte also signified support for the global medical and scientific
initiatives forged at the WHO, including the ACT Accelerator, COVAX
Facility, and C-TAP. He further reaffirmed that the Philippines will
do its part by contributing in the pooling of global resources and
helping other countries without preconditions.
“Our collective initiatives in the UN and other multilateral
frameworks are our best chance to defeat COVID-19,” he said.
As nations continue to face the pandemic, Duterte said that the
international community must already draw up a bounce-back strategy –
one that aims for a comprehensive and inclusive recovery.
As for the Philippines, he said that the government has adopted a “no one left behind recovery plan built on solid economic funding allocation equivalent to 9.1 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product),” even as he defended the prolonged lockdown imposed since early this year, saying that the move sped up the adaption of the country to technology that spurred e-commerce and also “inadvertently, laid bare how interconnected societies had become.”
He also claimed to be supporting global ceasefire, especially for
vulnerable countries amid the fight against terrorism. “Combatting
terrorism is as urgent in my country, this fight is about protecting
life while saving democracy without resorting to violence,” he said.
Duterte said that cooperation among nations is the key to ending the pandemic.
“The time is now for greater collective courage, meaningful actions to
see the end of this pandemic with the path clear in working with each
other act not as separate nations but one humanity,” he said.
The Special Session was held pursuant to Resolution 75/4 adopted by
the General Assembly on 5 November 2020 to reaffirm the key role of
the United Nations in maintaining global order, especially in the face
of an unprecedented global public health crisis. It was first proposed
by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), where the Philippines is a member.