Roque denies lying about equitable vax distribution

MANILA – Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday denied a lawmaker’s claim that he lied about the government’s “equitable” distribution of Covid-19 vaccines across the country.

In a Palace press briefing, Roque said he was merely repeating a recent statement made by President Rodrigo Duterte who ordered a more equitable distribution of Covid-19 jabs nationwide.

Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez, in a recent House hearing, complained about a lack of priority in addressing the increasing Covid-19 cases in Mindanao.

He said he wrote a letter to vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. twice seeking additional vaccine supply for Cagayan De Oro City but claimed Galvez did not respond.

“I will call the attention of Congressman Rufus Rodriguez, who is my very good friend. But I did not lie, because he claimed that I lied and I take offense with that. I merely repeated what the President said, that he has ordered a more equitable distribution of vaccines because of the rise of cases in other parts of the country,” Roque said.

He said Duterte directed Galvez to ensure the delivery of more vaccines in areas with higher cases of Covid-19 infection.

Roque said a total of 1,735,630 vaccine doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been delivered to Mindanao.

“Let’s be more careful about alleging other public officials lying to the public because I do not lie. I repeated what the President’s said,” he added.

On Tuesday, Roque denied that the national government’s neglect of Mindanao led to a surge in Covid-19 cases in the region.

He attributed the surge to the public’s low compliance with minimum public health standards.

OCTA Research earlier identified some cities in Mindanao as areas of concern due to the continued spread of Covid-19, namely Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Koronadal, Cotabato, and Davao City.

As of Thursday, a total of 14.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have arrived in the Philippines.

The Philippines has administered a total of 7,563,241 Covid-19 vaccine doses as of Wednesday.

Of this number, 5,551,097 have received their first dose of the vaccine, while 2,012,154 have received their second dose.