President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted the resignation of Nayong Pilipino Foundation Executive Director Lucille Malilong-Isberto, according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles.
“Yes, it’s been accepted. But I don’t know under what particular details it was accepted, there’s a resignation from Nayong Pilipino director and it was accepted by the President,” Nograles said in an ANC interview.
“It was a resignation that was submitted to the President and the President accepted it. It was as simple as that,” he added.
Isberto resigned following a feud with government officials over the construction of a mega vaccination facility in NPF grounds in Parañaque City.
Isberto opposed the construction of a mega COVID-19 vaccination facility in the NPF land in Parañaque City, raising legal concerns on the use of the property and urged government officials to follow legal procedures.
Nograles assured the public that the building of the mega COVID-19 vaccination site in the NPF land will push through and is above board even if the foundation’s board earlier opposed the building plan as it would entail the cutting of 500 trees.
“In every aspect of the project nandiyan ang DENR. Wala namang mga environmental concerns. It’s a reclaimed land, it is not being utilized, it seemed like an appropriate site in terms of accessibility. Wala namang tatamaan na mga puno diyan,” Nograles added.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Wednesday supported the plan to use Nayong Pilipino as a temporary COVID-19 mega vaccination site, saying it is crucial to meet the government target of inoculating 500,000 Filipinos every day.
“I have already agreed in principle that this facility will be used temporarily as a huge vaccination center to speed up our vaccination coverage,” Duque said in an ANC interview.
The construction of the vaccination center will be shouldered by the ICTSI Foundation of tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.
The government is targeting to vaccinate 120,000 people per day in the National Capital Region alone.
The Nayong Pilipino mega vaccination center will be able to handle 10 percent of NCR’s requirement, or as many as 12,000 people a day, the ICTSI Foundation said in a statement.
“As early as March this year, the ICTSI Foundation submitted an unsolicited proposal to the government to build a temporary mega vaccination center in aid of the government’s goal to inoculate as many Filipinos as possible to curb the further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and to achieve herd immunity by yearend,” it said.
The facility will feature an ambulatory vaccination station and a drive-through area. It will also house the mega quarantine center run by the Armed Forces of the Philippines that was also built by the Razon Group at no cost to the government.
The facility is designed by Architect Jun Palafox, a renowned environmental planner, who is rendering his services free of charge. It must be put in context that one of the advocacies of the ICTSI Foundation is sustainable environmental protection,” it added.