Roque ‘sure’ Duterte wants Magalong to stay as contact tracing czar

Palace spokesperson Harry Roque is confident that President Rodrigo Duterte wants Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong to remain as the government’s contact tracing czar. 

Magalong earlier said his resignation was irrevocable though he promised to remain in his post should the President tell him to stay. 

“I have heard with my own two ears nothing but words of praises for Mayor Magalong from the President. So of course, I am 100% sure that the President would want Mayor Magalong to stay on as tracing czar,” Roque said at a news conference on Tuesday. 

National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. called Magalong “irreplaceable,” adding he and his deputy, Vince Dizon, would meet with the mayor in the coming days to discuss his resignation. 

The task force last week rejected Magalong’s resignation, which came following criticisms over his attendance at eventologist Tim Yap’s birthday celebration at The Manor at Camp John Hay in Baguio on January 17 where COVID-19 protocols were allegedly not followed.

Magalong’s wife, Yap and other personalities later paid fines for violating the city’s ordinances on COVID-19 protocols. —KG, GMA News