Roque on ‘nakabakasyon’ quip: COVID-19 no vacation for people who were not able to work

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Wednesday the country has not been on vacation for the past year due to COVID-19, clarifying what he meant was lost time that the people were not able to go to work due to the pandemic.

Roque issued the statement after he drew sharp criticisms for saying, “We have to recover lost time. Napakatagal na po nating nakabakasyon. Let us have faith in our economic team” in justifying President Rodrigo Duterte’s move to declare November 2 (All Soul’s Day), December 24 (Christmas Eve) and December 31 (New Year’s Eve) as working days.

“Alam ninyo po, ang konteksto nito, 'yung karagdagang araw na pinagpapatrabaho tayo, kasama na po 'yung bisperas ng Pasko, bisperas ng Bagong Taon….talagang maraming tao ang hindi nakapaghanapbuhay dahil dito sa pandemiyang ito. Kaya nga ninanais ng economic team na makahabol naman tayo,” he said in a statement sent to reporters.

“Hindi naman po talaga bakasyon 'yan, kung hindi, hindi nakapagtatrabaho, kaya ngayon na pupuwede na po tayong makapagtrabaho sana dahil nagbubukas na tayo ng ekonomiya, hayaan naman nating kumita at makapagtrabaho ang ating mga kababayan,” he added.

Also on Wednesday,  Gabriela Women's party-list Representative Arlene Brosas denounced Roque for uttering such remark.

“Para sa Malacañang, ang isang-taong pandemya ay isang bakasyon lamang habang para sa mahihirap, ito ay isang walang hanggang bangungot dulot ng kawalan ng ayuda at kabuhayan. Tama nga siguro ang sinabi ni Senator Bato dela Rosa, masarap nga talaga ang buhay ng mga malalapit sa presidente,” she said.

“Walang bakasyon para sa mga nanay sa komunidad na hindi na matapos kakaisip kung anong ipapakain sa kanilang mga anak sa gitna ng nagtataasang presyo ng bilihin. Walang bakasyon para sa mga manggagawang wala na ngang kasiguraduhan sa trabaho, kakarampot pa ang kinikita,” she added.

Vaccine rollout

The country has started its COVID-19 vaccination program on Monday, March 1, using the 600,000 doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Chinese government to the Philippines.

Not a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine paid for by the national government has been delivered to the country to date.

The Duterte administration has earmarked P72.5 billion for buying COVID-19 vaccines.

Based on Health Department records, 12,369 individuals died due to COVID-19 in the Philippines.

The number of active COVID-19 cases is at 33,610 as of March 2. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News