President Rodrigo Duterte prefers to take COVID-19 shots from Chinese state firm Sinopharm, Malacañang said on Monday.

"He has said na (that) his preference is for Sinopharm," said Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque.

Some members of the President's security detail took unauthorized Sinopharm jabs last year.

Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration has issued a "compassionate use license" for the Presidential Security Group to take 10,000 Sinopharm jabs.

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Roque has since denied rumors the President was secretly vaccinated last year.

Duterte, 75, will be excluded from the priority recipients of COVID-19 shots from another Chinese firm, Sinovac Biotech, which secured an emergency use authorization in the Philippines on Monday, said his spokesman.

Sinovac is not recommended for the elderly and health workers who have direct contact with COVID-19 patients, the Food and Drug Administration had said.