Roque lying; Leni never pushed to have vaccine ad with Duterte —VP spox

Lawyer Barry Gutierrez on Thursday said Vice President Leni Robredo never pushed for the infomercial with President Rodrigo Duterte to encourage Filipinos to get COVID-19 jabs.

This after presidential spokesman Harry Roque insisted in a Talk to the Nation briefing that Robredo wanted to do a COVID-19 advertisement to increase vaccine confidence.

"Fact: VP Leni never 'pushed' to have a joint infomercial with the President, and Sec Roque is lying if he insists that she did," Gutierrez, spokesman of the Office of the Vice President, wrote on Twitter.

"Opinion: Someone who habitually lies is probably someone you shouldn't trust," Gutierrez added.

Roque also took a swipe at Robredo, saying that the vice president is  criticizing the government's efforts in vaccination.

“Ngayong napakita natin na marami nang nagpapabakuna eh bigla namang nag-volunteer, gusto raw nyang umappear sa infomercial kasama kayo. Sa loob loob ko matapos tayong siraan nang siraan, ngayong nagiging matagumpay ang vaccination eh makikisama ngayon,” Roque had said.

Duterte, however, did not respond to Roque during the pre-recorded meeting.

It was  Senator Joel Villanueva who recommended having Duterte and Robredo do an infomercial, not the Vice President.—LDF, GMA News