PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is willing to give a P20 million reward to any Filipino who can develop a durable respirator that will be used to help patients who contracted the novel coronavirus, Malacañang said on Tuesday, April 28.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, the respirators should “outlast” the lives of the patients.
“Nagbigay ng pabuya ang presidente ng P20 million para sa sinumang Pilipino na makakabuo ng local respirator na sabi niya ay would outlast the life of the patient. Ito po ay may kakulangan talaga sa respirators (The president has put up a P20 million reward to any Filipino who can create a local respirator that would outlast the life of the patient. This is a result of the shortage of respirators),” he said in a virtual press briefing.
Duterte on Friday, April 24 also raised the reward money for anyone who develops a vaccine against COVID-19, saying it can go as high as P100 million.
“I am raising the bounty to P50 million because it is a collegial thing,” the president said in his address.
“Baka sa ligaya ko, another P50 million, kung maligaya ako masyado (If I’m too happy I might add another P50 million),” he added.
Initially, the reward money was P10 million.
“Because COVID-19 is public enemy number one not only in the Philippines, but also in the whole world, the President is announcing that he will give a reward of up to P10 million to any Filipino who can discover a vaccine against COVID-19,” Roque said on April 21.
Duterte also offered a “substantial grant” to the laboratories of the University of the Philippines and the Philippine General Hospital for vaccine development.
As of writing, there are 8,212 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country, with 558 fatalities and 1,023 recoveries.
