Somebody should be held accountable for 'second wave' remark? Roque says, 'Sana po'

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday said somebody should be held accountable for the confusion caused by the statement that the country is already on the second wave of COVID-19 infections.

Interviewed on Unang Balita, Roque however said the decision to penalize somebody is up to the senior officials of the government.

"Hinahayaan ko na muna po iyan sa liderato ng ating pamahalaan. Tagapagsalita lamang ako," he said.

But pressed on whether somebody should be held accountable for the statement that Malacanang has refuted, Roque said, "Sana po."

It was Health Secretary Francisco Duque III who first mentioned, during a Senate hearing on the COVID-19 situation in the country, that the country is already on the second wave of infections. He has since retracted his statement.

Roque admitted that the statement caused "fear and panic" among citizens already jittery about facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Sa ngayon busy ako magbigay linaw na nasa first wave pa lang tayo dahil matindi yung takot at panic na dinulot ng ganyang statement na diumano ay nasa second wave na tayo," he said.

Roque, a lawyer and former party-list lawmaker, said the Palace has accepted Duque's retraction and what happened was just a case of doctors having different interpretations of available data.

"Maraming beses na kaming nakapag-usap [ni Duque]. Ang sabi naman namin ay siguro nga dahil propesyon ng medisina... bagamat pareho ng datos ay magkaiba ng interpretasyon," he said. --KBK, GMA News