Governors, mayors, barangay captains moved up in vaccination priority list —DILG

Governors, mayors, and barangay captains have been moved up in the priority list of the government for the vaccination rollout, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Thursday.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said the adjustment was approved after he recommended it to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“Sila po ay considered nang A4. Noong Huwebes po ako mismo ang nagrekomenda sa IATF through the Recovery Cluster sa IATF na i-angat sila from B3 to A4,” he said.

(They are already considered as A4. Last Thursday, I recommended to the IATF through the Recovery Cluster of the IATF to move them up from B3 to A4.)

“All 1,715 governors and mayors, and 42,046 barangay captains, inaprubahan po natin na iangat po ang kanilang classification (we approved to elevate their classification),” he added.

According to Densing, these government officials were previously in the same classification with other essential workers at B3.

Now, they are included in A4 like frontline personnel in essential sectors including uniformed personnel and those in working sectors identified as essential during an enhanced community quarantine.

Based on the prioritization of the government, they will receive the COVID-19 vaccines after frontline health workers (A1), indigent senior citizens (A2), and the remaining senior citizens and persons with comorbidities (A3).

They can get the jab before the remaining indigent population (A5) as well as teachers and social workers (B1).

On Wednesday, the DILG issued show cause orders to five mayors for getting COVID-19 vaccines ahead of those on the priority list.

Densing said these mayors have to explain their inoculation which may have violated the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

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.—AOL, GMA News