MANILA, Philippines — Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III on Thursday said he does not believe that actor Mark Anthony Fernandez is qualified to be a substitute when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccination priority list.
“Madaling gumawa ng excuse. Hindi ako naniniwala (It’s easy to make an excuse. I don’t believe it),” Densing said on Teleradyo when asked for comment on Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez’s defense that Fernandez was eligible to get his COVID-19 shot as a substitute.
Olivarez, who is also the concurrent head of the Metro Manila Council, said that Fernandez had comorbidities such as hypertension and depression, making him qualified to be a substitute on the COVID-19 vaccination priority list.
The Parañaque mayor added that the city is already done with inoculating its healthcare workers.
Based on the country’s vaccination list of priority groups, frontline healthcare workers are first in line, followed by senior citizens and persons with co-morbidities.
(REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson / file photo)
“Mali yung substitution list nila (Their substitution list is wrong.),” Densing stressed.
“Bakit sila inuuna? Ang pwedeng gawing substitiution yung driver, yung nasa palengke, yung frontline worker, yung essential worker. Bakit nila inuna yung isang artista na walang sakit sa katawan?” Densing lamented.
(Why was he prioritized? They could have picked drivers, those who work in the wet market, the frontline worker, the essential worker. Why are they prioritizing an actor who does not have any ailment?)
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered the Department of Health to investigate the COVID-19 vaccination of an actor, which was believed to be Fernandez.