President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday night that country is seemingly playing “second fiddle” in acquiring COVID-19 vaccines because it has “no clout” and is “not rich”.

His remark came after Department of Health (DOH) Sec. Francisco Duque III was accused by some officials of having “dropped the ball” in negotiations with Pfizer on the delivery of 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the Philippines.

“May I just explain to the public the reason why we — we seemed to be a second fiddle in these negotiations for the acquisition of vaccine. Second fiddle nga tayo, it’s because ‘yung mga mayaman na doon pa ginagawa sa kanila ang vaccine, kagaya ng Pfizer, uunahin talaga ang Amerika,” Duterte said in his weekly address to the nation.

“Tayo, well, wala man tayo masyadong ano, ‘yung pera lang natin pangbili lang talaga. But we do not have the clout because we are not a rich nation,” he added.

He reiterated that there was “no available” vaccines from Pfizer for the Philippines.

“Let us be clear on this, there is as yet no Pfizer vaccines available for the Philippines. And for a long time, wala pa. Binabakunahan pa ang mga Amerikano lahat. Agawan sila ngayon sa Amerika,” he said.

Meanwhile, Duterte said he was assured by Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez that there are enough funds to pay for COVID-19 vaccines.

He urged the Filipino people to continuously trust him in handling the pandemic.

“Makinig lang kayo sa akin tutal ako man ang pinili — ‘di ba ako ang hinalal ninyong Presidente? So I am supposed to solve problems for you, for the people,” he said.