DILG Usec. Jonathan Malaya. (File) Photo from DILG
MANILA, Philippines — Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya on Wednesday said the Philippine National Police will remain on “high alert” despite the communist rebels’ assurance of safe delivery of anti-Covid-19 vaccines.
“Alerto lang ang pamahalaan dahil mahirap maging kampante at pagkatiwalaan ang mga kaaway ng bayan,” Malaya, who is also the co-chair of National Task Force against Covid-19 Task Group Prevention, said in a statement.
(Government will be on alert because it would be difficult to brush this off and trust the enemies of the state.)
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) previously said it will make sure that it will not hamper the transport of the anti-Covid-19 vaccines, but suggested that distribution of the vaccines must be done by the International Committee of the Red Cross, Philippine Red Cross, and other independent humanitarian groups.
But Malaya slammed the communist rebels’ demands, saying they should put the country first before their “selfish ideological interests” and must not impose conditions on the government during pandemic.
“Can’t the CPP/NPA/NDF [Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/ National Democratic Front of the Philippines] declare a cessation of hostilities for a change if only to allow the delivery of the vaccines? In all countries of the world, the military are mobilized to assist in the vaccination program. In the US, the National Guard has been mobilized to ensure the fast delivery of their vaccines,” the interior department official said.
Malaya explained that only military vehicles can reach the mountainous areas for delivery of the drugs.
“What happens when we utilize a military vehicle to transport the vaccine in mountainous areas, are they going to shoot our soldiers on a humanitarian mission? [The] 6×6 military trucks are the only vehicles that can reach these areas. What happens when civilian vehicles do not have a red cross over a white background?” he said.
In a televised speech on Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte called on the communist rebels not to hinder the delivery of vaccines to far-flung communities.
“I am appealing to the Communist Party of the Philippines, the umbrella [organization] . . . [to] guarantee that the vaccines, in the course of their being transported to areas where [there] are no city health officers or medical [workers], to please not touch the medicines,” Duterte said.
The Philippine military, meanwhile, rejected CPP’s request, saying they do not have the authority to dictate which vehicles to use for the vaccine delivery.