By Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA (Reuters) – China on Saturday pledged to donate 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines, while the two countries signed infrastructure agreements to boost post-pandemic recovery efforts, officials said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed one of the longest and most rigid blocks in the world to contain the virus in March last year – paralyzing one of Asia’s fastest growing economies.
“As a friend of the Philippines and its closest neighbor, we will be firmly on the side of the Filipino people until the defeat of this virus,” said Chinese diplomat Wang Yi during a meeting with the Philippine Foreign Minister.
Wang’s negotiations in Manila ended a week-long visit to four Southeast Asian countries.
Duterte has sought stronger ties with Beijing since taking office in 2016, setting aside a territorial fight in exchange for pledges of aid, loans and donations.
“China plays a very important role in revitalizing our region’s economy,” he said on Saturday. “We will do everything possible to revive economic activities between the Philippines and China.”
China said it would donate 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines, without saying which vaccines would be offered, the presidential palace said in a statement.
With nearly 499,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 9,900 deaths, the Philippines has the second highest number of infections and deaths in the region, after Indonesia, but Manila is behind neighboring countries in obtaining vaccine doses.
Duterte said he prefers to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from China or Russia, and the country is buying 25 million doses of the experimental vaccine developed by Chinese vaccine manufacturer Sinovac Biotech, with the first 50,000 scheduled to arrive in February.
On Saturday, officials from both countries signed an agreement for a 500 million yuan ($ 77 million) grant from China to finance infrastructure, livelihoods and other projects in the Philippines.
They also signed the commercial contract for a $ 940 million railway scheme north of the capital, 71 kilometers long, the Beijing ambassador to Manila said in a statement.
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Clelia Oziel and Helen Popper)