By Mario Casayuran As the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19) stalks the country, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson today said the national government should be investing more on research and development (R&D). Lacson issued the statement after President Duterte has offered P10 million to whoever can develop a vaccine for COVID-19. ‘’How about investing more on R&D than a token annual average share of 0.4 percent from the GAA (General Appropriations Act or national budget)?,’’ he asked. ‘’We only need to look at how much the most prosperous countries spend on R&D to see why we are among the laggards,’’ he said. In China, a clinical trial has begun on a third potential coronavirus vaccine, the South China Morning Post reported two days ago. China is where the first cases of the deadly virus strain were detected late last year. According to researchers involved in the latest trial, “tens of volunteers” in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province were given the vaccine candidate on Thursday and it had already shown “positive results”. Developed by a team led by Qin Chuan at the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control in Beijing, it targets the initial strain of the virus and other mutations that have emerged as it has spread around the world.