The billing is but alphabetical and nothing else since both are considered of equal footing.
Both have been in the news yesterday, December 20, talking about a common thing – the COVID-19 vaccine that is met with both sighs of joy and apprehension by the whole world. But if course or curse if you want it, the national administration raised the bar in incompetency again after it failed to immediately secure the much needed vaccine.
First, you have former Rep. Albee Benitez, who is now a consultant on economic affairs in the province, announcing that he has been negotiating for Negros Occidental to be among the first in the country to secure the COVID-19 vaccines for its constituency by the first quarter of next year.
Albee who celebrated his 54th birthday last Sunday made that as his wish, saying he has made an agreement with the national government to prioritize the province to purchase either the US Moderna vaccine of the China-made Sinovac.
Moderna vaccine produced in Cambridge, Massachusetts is the second vaccine approved for mass vaccination in the US next to Pfizer which was developed in New York. It is also much cheaper than Sinovac which of course is the choice of the national government because it’s produced by Big Brother China.
It is quite ironic that China is famous for cheap goods (both in price and quality) but in the case of vaccines, surprisingly produced a more expensive one.
Of course, there are apprehensions regarding Sinovac as in anything made-in-China, but Albee allayed fears saying he will allow himself to be vaccinated first by this vaccine if need be. At this point though, with many wanting to go back to the normal way of life, China-made or not, getting vaccinated is a priority.
Some of my friends here are wary of the vaccination and would rather err on the side of caution by waiting for a more conclusive effect of the vaccines that have been rolled out faster than the normal vaccine process of at least five years. I am one of those who would opt to be vaccinated if it’s made available to the public.
What makes Albee’s announcement as a possibility that Negros Occidental may actually get prioritized is the fact that the provincial government is willing to put up a counterpart fund for purchasing these vaccines. Albee is a businessman and he is on track knowing that in any negotiation, anyone who is willing to put up a counterpart always gets priority over those waiting for dole-outs.
Don’t you just wish you are a resident of the province at this point? My only beef was the fact that Albee again stole the thunder from Gov. Bong Lacson by making the announcement ahead of the latter. However, good news is good news and if this pushes through, the governor will definitely get his share of kudos.
Both Albee and Bing have equal political footing even if the former is not anymore in politics officially. Albee remains a force in the political arena as a former chair of the Visayan bloc, and allied with the new House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco who was nominated to the post by Albee’s younger brother and successor, Rep. Kiko Benitez.
Mayor Bing on the other hand is the head of the League of Cities in the Philippines and a close ally of Senator Manny Pacquiao who now heads the ruling political party in the country and an adopted son of Bacolod. Who can ever forget the numerous times that our mayor precedes the boxing senator in his international matches, carrying either Pacquiao’s belt or our flag?
Yet with the clout he has, Mayor Bing can only announce the result of his meeting with Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado on whether the local government units are obligated to allocated funds for COVID-19 vaccines as there is a national program that will give vaccines out for free.
In that meeting by the national board of the LCP, Avisado said that while the LGUs are not obligated, they can definitely procure on their own since there is only a P10 million budget for vaccine procurement in the first year. With 100 million people in the country, that is definitely not enough even to vaccinate 70 percent of the population which is the threshold to stop the spread of the virus.
Mayor Bing further asked if there will be a special fund allotment from the DBM for LGUs to purchase these vaccines and if it’s possible for government financial institutions like DBP and LandBank to provide special loans for such.
What makes it interesting is that both news reports came out on the same day and you can clearly read through the lines that one is decisive and ahead of things while the other is not and would rather wait for the national government’s response on what to do next.
It is no wonder why talks of Albee being pitted against Mayor Bing in the next elections persist. Of course, for now, that is still out of the picture because Albee’s residency is outside of Bacolod. But, you can never be too sure since Albee can easily acquire residency in the capital city owing to his businesses here.
The point is, there is a stark contrast in the kind of leadership both offer. And I am just saying, this is a wake-up call.*