Roque: ‘If public won’t trust experts on vaccines, who must they trust? Not comedians’

This is a combination photo of comedian Vice Ganda and presidential spokesperson Harry Roque (INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS)

MANILA, Philippines — If the public will not heed experts’ advice on coronavirus vaccines, then who should they trust about it? For presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, definitely not the comedians.

Although he did not identify who he was referring to, the Palace official appears to be answering a tweet recently made by ABS-CBN comedian Vice Ganda.

In a tweet last Jan. 12, Vice pointed out that Filipinos are already “choosy” even in the brand of detergent soap they use for laundry and what more on the vaccine that will be injected into their bodies.

Sa sabong panlaba nga choosy tayo e sa bakuna pa kaya. Ano to basta may maisaksak lang?! Vaklang twoooaahhh!!!

— jose marie viceral (@vicegandako) January 12, 2021

The Kapamilya comedian tweeted this after Roque said the public cannot afford to be “choosy” on the brand of Covid-19 vaccine they want to be inoculated with.

But in an apparent reply to Vice’s tweet, Roque said during his Monday Palace press briefing that it is wrong to compare vaccines from laundry soaps as he noted that three separate groups of vaccine experts are involved in the country’s vaccine screening process.

“Mali naman na ikumpara ang bakuna sa sabong panlaba. Ang katunayan po, wala nang supply na ganun karami. Nag-aagawan nga po tayo sa 18% na available supply. Pangalawa, hindi lang naman po ito gagamitin para sa damit. Kaya nga po hindi lang isa, hindi lang dalawa, kundi taltlong grupo pa ng eksperto ang mag-susuri kung ang mga bakuna ay ligtas at epektibo,” Roque said.

“Kung hindi naman po natin pagtitiwalaan ang mga experts…sino ang ating pagtitiwalaan? Siguro po hindi mga komedyante,” he added.

In the same press briefing, Roque likewise reminded the public not to rush into believing posts on social media, especially those that came from politicians with aspirations in the coming elections.

“Malapit na po kasi ang eleksyon. Isang taon at kalahati (nalang). Kaya ang ang mga desperado na gustong mahalal ng taumbayan, kung anu-anong fake news ang pinapakalat. Huwag po tayong maging biktima sa kanila,” he said.

The Philippines has so far secured 25 million doses of coronavirus vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech, 17 million doses from British drugmaker AstraZeneca and 30 million doses of Indian-made Covovax vaccine.

The COVAX facility, a platform that aims to ensure rapid, fair, and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for people in all countries, has also guaranteed vaccine supplies for 20% of the Philippines’ population.

KGA