Ramon T. Tulfo
WHY the furor over my admission that I was inoculated with the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine?
My critics flog me, saying I am a government official with the rank of special envoy to China and that I used my position to get vaccinated.
First of all, my position as special envoy is honorific, and I don’t receive a salary for the job.
My fellow special envoys to China also don’t receive salaries.
Second, I never used my position to jump the line since I did it as a plain citizen and not as a special envoy.
My appointment as special envoy has not been renewed because it’s only good for six months each time.
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I never followed up the renewal of my appointment because of the pandemic.
So, that answers the question of conflict of interest on my part. Technically, when I got the vaccine I did so not as a special envoy to China.
My intention in getting vaccinated ahead of the others was to test the waters, so to speak.
When I did that, I risked my life.
But hold your fire! I put myself in harm’s way not because I wanted to be a hero but because I was applying to become one of the distributors of Sinopharm vaccines in the country.
Needless to say, my family has not been vaccinated yet.
I’ve never had any official or direct dealing with Sinopharm. I was dealing with a local pharmaceutical company here that was applying to become the exclusive distributor of the vaccine.
My agreement with the local pharmaceutical firm is that should Sinopharm sign a deal with it, my application to be a sub-distributor would be given priority.
The Sinopharm deal with the local pharmaceutical company is still pending.
Now, you might ask whether some government officials and members of the Presidential Security Group committed an immoral or illegal act in getting the Sinopharm vaccine without the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
I can’t speak for them, but I didn’t find anything wrong with me getting vaccinated without the FDA approval.
My intention, I repeat, was to test its efficacy as a potential distributor of Sinopharm vaccine in the country. I’m like the chef who tastes his dish before serving it to diners.