DILG: Parañaque councilor, DOJ employee also allegedly jumped vaccine line

MANILA, Philippines — Apart from an actor, a city councilor and a Department of Justice  (DOJ) employee also allegedly skipped the COVID-19 vaccine priority line in Parañaque City, a Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) official said Thursday.

Actor Mark Anthony Fernandez was vaccinated in Parañaque City the other day despite not being a health worker in the vaccination priority list.

“In fact, nadagdagan pa yan dahil naka-receive ako ng information ngayong umaga na merong konsehal din na Parañaque na nagpabakuna rin kahapon at meron din isang empleyado ng Department of Justice na hindi binigay sa akin ang pangalan, mga nagsumbong lang,” DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said in a televised briefing.

(In fact, there’s more because I received information this morning that a Parañaque City councilor and a Department of Justice employee, whose names were not disclosed to me, were also vaccinated yesterday.)

“So talagang hindi nila sinunod itong priority list. At pag sinabi nating priority list, pag hindi po available yung mga babakunahan, yung substitution dapat nandun din sa mga priority individuals, hindi dapat sila tumalon sa labas,” he added.

(They really did not follow the priority list. When we say priority list, if the person scheduled to be vaccinated is not available, the substitute should also be within the priority individuals, not those outside the list.)

Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez has since defended Fernandez’s vaccination, saying he has comorbidities such as hypertension and depression which makes him qualified to be a substitute on the priority list.

Mark Anthony Fernandez (FILE PHOTO)

Densing, however, doubted the supposed substitution list.

“Hindi sila nag provide ng listahan kung sino ang nagsusubstitute.  Naging kaduda duda tuloy dyan either nagpalakasan or nagkabayaran o hindi natin malaman, so naging kaduda duda po yung kanilang subsitution list pag hindi sumipot yung naka-schedule ay basta basta nalang papalitan kung sino ang gusto nila,” the DILG official said.

(They did not provide the list of substitutes. This is doubtful because some may be either favored or there was payment involved. They might be choosing whoever they want as a substitute.)

President Rodrigo Duterte already ordered a probe in the vaccination of an actor, which turned out to be Fernandez.

gsg