Palace denies blaming Robredo over pitfalls in gov’t COVID-19 response

The Palace denied Thursday being preoccupied with attacking Vice President Leni Robredo amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque responded to a statement from the Vice President’s camp accusing the administration of launching tirades against her while the country is the last to begin its COVID-19 vaccination program among 10 Southeast Asian nations.

“Hindi namin siya pinag-aaksayahan ng panahon. Siya ang patuloy na namumulitika at nangangampanya na para maging Presidente sa pamamagitan ng walang tigil na birada sa administrasyon (We do not waste time on her. It is her who resorts to politicking,  campaigning to become the President by relentlessly attacking the administration),” Roque said in a Palace briefing.

“The politics is at the very far end [of our list]. Patuloy ang aming paninilbihan (We continue to serve the nation),” he added.

Roque and President Rodrigo Duterte earlier blamed Robredo over low vaccine confidence on Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Sinovac.

Robredo’s spokesperson, Ibarra Gutierrez, countered that Roque is lying to his teeth.

Gutierrez cited the President calling Senator Bong Go a "president," the tarpaulins calling on presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte to run for president, and Roque going after Twitter posts of the Vice President’s daughters about an unnamed person who is sleeping on the job.

“Sino nga ulit ang namumulitika at nangangampanya sa gitna ng pandemya? Lantarang lokohan na ito eh. (Who is politicking amid the COVID-19 pandemic now? This is straight up lying),” he said in a statement.

Robredo recently drew the ire of the President over her insistence that the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine must secure a positive recommendation from  Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC), just like what was issued to Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca, which were approved for emergency use by the FDA alongside Sinovac.

The HTAC eventually issued positive recommendation to Sinovac, but such issuance came after Sinovac was given to health workers during the start of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program last March 1.—AOL, GMA News