DILG: Parañaque mayor needs to explain actor's vaccination gaffe

A court will issue a show cause order on Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez over the vaccination of actor Mark Anthony Fernandez, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said on Thursday.

Interviewed on "Dobol B TV," DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said that the show cause order will be issued due to command responsibility.

“Kasi binaggit 'yan ni Presidente kagabi so padadalhan po namin ‘yan ng show cause order para magpaliwanag. Command responsibility po 'yan”(It was mentioned by the President last night so we will send him a show cause order to explain. It’s command responsibility), he said.

Densing said the concerned mayors may look for excuses.

“Sasabihing may co-morbidity, pero sa isang interview ng artistang ito e sinabi niya na malakas ang kaniyang katawan, wala siyang maintenance. Wala siya sa group ng may comorbidities.  Naghahanap na ho sila ng excuse” (They’re saying he has comorbidities, but in an interview this actor said he was healthy, and he had no maintenance medicine. They’re already looking for excuses.)

On the other hand, Olivarez told GMA News Online that Fernandez received the jab because he was a substitute on standby, and that almost all the frontline healthcare workers in the city already received the vaccine.

According to him, around 90 to 95 percent of frontliners in the city have already been inoculated.

“Meron tayong substitution list na nagpupunta doon, nagwo-walk in doon ... Kapag hindi dumating ang frontliner sayang ang vaccine"(We have people on the substitution list. They were at the vaccination site, walk-in. If the frontliner did not come, the dose will be wasted), Olivarez said over the phone.

The next priority group after healthcare workers are senior citizens aged 60 years old and above, then followed by persons with comorbidities.

Moreover, Olivarez said Fernandez has comorbidities. Citing the information from the screening conducted by the city health office, the mayor said the actor is hypertensive and suffering from depression. —LBG, GMA News