NON-MEDICAL workers who cut in line for the Covid-19 vaccine face no liability but the local government officials who allowed it will be held accountable, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said.
Densing was referring to celebrity Mark Anthony Fernandez, whose inoculation was approved by Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez.
“Yung mga sumingit kagaya ni Mark Anthony Fernandez, wala sa priority list pero nakasingit, as of this time, wala ho kaming nakikitang potential liability,” Densing said in a virtual press briefing on Thursday, March 25, 2021.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who learned of Fernandez’s vaccination, ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to investigate incidents of jumping the queue.
Densing said Olivarez, and seven more mayors and one councilor will also be asked to explain their failure to follow the prioritization framework for the Covid-19 vaccination program.
The DILG earlier issued show cause orders against Mayor Alfred Romualdez of Tacloban City, Leyte; Mayor Dibu Tuan of T’boli, South Cotabato; Mayor Sulpicio Villalobos of Sto. Nino, South Cotabato; Mayor Noel Rosal of Legazpi City, Albay; and Mayor Abraham Ibba of Bataraza, Palawan. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)