5 mayors given show cause orders for receiving COVID-19 vaccines ahead of prioritized sectors

At least five mayors were given show cause orders for getting COVID-19 vaccines ahead of those on the priority list, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Wednesday.

DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said show cause orders were issued to the following mayors as of Tuesday:

• Mayor Alfred Romualdez of Tacloban City, Leyte
• Mayor Dibu Tuan of T’boli, South Cotabato
• Mayor Sulpicio Villalobos of Sto. Nino, South Cotabato
• Mayor Noel Rosal of Legazpi City, Albay
• Mayor Abraham Ibba of Bataraza, Palawan

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Densing said these mayors have to explain their inoculation which may have violated the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

“Sa tingin po namin may paglabag. Kaya po pinadadalhan, actually pinadalhan na ngayon ng show cause orders, para magpaliwanag sila kung bakit sila nagpabakuna ahead of the others doon sa priority list,” he said.

(We think there was a violation. So we sent them show cause orders to explain why they got themselves vaccinated ahead of others who are in the priority list.)

If the violations were confirmed, Densing said the DILG will forward the complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman to decide on the sanctions that will be imposed on the mayors.

Based on the prioritization set by the national government, the vaccination rollout in the country will start with frontline health workers, indigent senior citizens, remaining senior citizens, remaining indigent population, and uniformed personnel.

GMA News Online has reached out on Wednesday to the concerned mayors for their side through their Facebook pages as well as the Facebook pages of their city or municipality and public information office. The mayors have yet to reply.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Tacloban City mayor’s office said Romualdez was inoculated with the Sinovac vaccine to convince others to get the jab.

“We would like to state for the record that Mayor Romualdez volunteered to be publicly vaccinated with Sinovac vaccine in order to boost confidence in the vaccination program of the government,” it said.

“At the time the vaccination was done, health workers were hesitant to avail of Sinovac, opting instead to pass and wait for other Western made brands,” it added. —KG, GMA News