Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said that the previous administration has miscalculated their order for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Benitez said an AstraZeneca representative met with him recently and disclosed that the city government owed them a balance of P98 million for the 650,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the previous administration.
But the mayot told a representative from the pharmaceutical firm that he will try to the best of his abilities not to pay the remaining amount, stressing that he would rather utilize that amount in other ways that can benefit the people of the city.
According to Benitez he has asked the City Legal Office to check on the purchase agreement with AstraZeneca, and see if there is a loophole that will allow the city government not to pay for the P98 million.
Former mayor Evelio Leonardia through a tripartite agreement ordered a total of 650,000 doses of AstraZeneca, but only 216,000 doses were delivered.
But according to AstraZeneca representative the remaining 434,000 doses were already delivered to the DOH, Benitez said.
