Moreno: Manila City most ready for mass vaccination, but ‘tarpaulins, not vaccines poured’

Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Did Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso just diss a possible presidential candidate?

In an interview with reporters on Tuesday, Moreno revealed that the City of Manila was ranked as the best-prepared city in terms of Covid-19 vaccine rollout readiness. He said the local government has garnered a rating of 89 percent based on the data of the Department of Health’s assessment. He also said they are just awaiting the arrival of the vials.

“Nakuha ko lang ‘yong assessment, ang Manila ang number one sa readiness (I just got that assessment, Manila was rated first in terms of readiness.),” he explained.

“We’re ready, sort of saying. May awa ang Diyos (God is merciful),” he added.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) earlier said vaccines will arrive between February and early March. As of this writing, not a single vial of the thousands of vaccine doses that the government has reported having secured have landed in Philippine soil.

READ: Lawmakers worried: Still no vaccine supply agreements

After this, Moreno shared a joke allegedly being told all over the city:

“So, we are ready to deploy, talagang… kaya nga may joke dito sa Manila eh, nakakatawa nga ‘yong mga joke dito kasi ang daming mga tarpaulin. Bumaha ng tarpaulin, hindi vaccine.”

(So, we are ready to deploy, it’s just that… there have been jokes here in Manila, very funny jokes because they noticed that there are a lot of tarpaulins. But tarpaulins, not  vaccines poured.)

Moreno did not specifically point to any person or group regarding the sudden proliferation of tarpaulins, or whether the posters are political in nature, all over Manila City. But social media has been teeming with posts and memes on banners bearing the face of presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and texts urging her to run for president in 2022 that spread like wildfire around Metro Manila.

Duterte-Carpio has said she is not interested in running for the presidency and thanked those who have been supporting her. President Rodrigo Duterte also said he advises her daughter against running for the nation’s highest government post, even insisting that the presidency is not a woman’s job.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) recently said it will probe the streamers on whether it was granted a permit before it was put up in public areas.

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KGA