Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has denied pinning the blame on Iloilo City residents for the surge in COVID-19 cases in their area.
“What I meant was, bagama’t nariyan na ang bakuna, habang wala pa tayong containment at population protection, mask, hugas, iwas pa rin ang first line of defense,” Roque clarified in a press conference on Wednesday, June 22.
“That is my message to everyone where there is a surge of COVID-19 cases,” he added.
Last week, Roque said the surge being experienced in Iloilo and other areas outside of Metro Manila is caused by people’s lack of discipline.
“At kabahagi ng solusyon siyempre po ang bakuna, pero kumakalat pa rin po ang COVID, dahil hindi po sumusunod ang ating ilang mga kababayan doon sa pakiusap ng ating Presidente na mag-mask, hugas, at iwas,” he said then.
This statement was slammed by City Mayor Jerry Treñas.
“Harry is okay, but sometimes, his mouth runs faster than his brain…instead of trying to look for ways to help out, he is blaming us. What kind of person are you?” he said in an interview on One PH.
In response, Roque said: “Lambing po ‘yan. He knows I am Ilonggo.”
Treñas called on the national government to allocate more vaccines for city as COVID-19 cases continues to surge.
“You know we have only vaccinated 40,000, that is not even 10% of our population. I have read in one of the newspapers that Quezon City has already vaccinated almost 600,000 (people),” the mayor said during the Laging Handa briefing on Monday, June 21.IMT
