Philippine Vice President and opposition leader Leni Robredo said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque had “no right” to berate doctors who are only trying to help the government address the coronavirus pandemic. 

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In her weekly radio show on DZXL on Sunday, September 12, Robredo defended Philippine College of Physicians president Dr. Maricar Limpin and a group of medical experts who got an earful from Roque during a recent meeting of the government’s COVID-19 task force. 

Robredo – who is mulling over whether to run for president in the high-stakes 2022 elections – reminded Roque that the purpose of such meetings was for the government to hear a variety of views across sectors regarding its pandemic policies. 

“Kung merong ibang tao na kausap na iba ‘yung pagtingin sa mga bagay, wala ka namang karapatan na mag-react the way na si Secretary Roque did. Kaya nga may IATF eh, para mapakinggan lahat!” Robredo said. 

(If we are talking to other people with different views from us, Secretary Roque has no right to react that way. That’s why we have the IATF, so we can listen to everybody!)

“Kung hindi ka agree, okay naman sabihin mong hindi agree. Pero wala kang karapatan na mam-bully, mambastos,” she added. 

(If you don’t agree with them, you can just say you disagree. But you have no right to bully or disrespect them.)

A video of the task force’s meeting on September 7 obtained by the Inquirer showed Roque raising his voice and repeatedly pointing his finger as he berated a medical experts’ group for opposing the government’s planned shift to granular lockdowns from region-wide quarantine classifications.

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Social media users have since slammed the outburst of President Rodrigo Duterte’s mouthpiece, pointing out how there is no denying that the government has been mismanaging the COVID-19 crisis. 

The Philippines now has 2,206,021 COVID-19 infections, of which 185,706 are active cases. The country recorded 26,303 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, September 11, the highest single-day tally since the pandemic began. 

Robredo also countered Roque’s earlier remarks, in which he accused the opposition of allegedly seeking the government’s failure in handling the COVID-19 crisis.

The Vice President said that this is untrue, arguing that the opposition criticizes in a bid to push the Duterte administration to improve its pandemic policies.

“‘Di ba kalokohan? Pag nag-fail yung government, pati oposisyon, damay, ‘di ba? Ang gusto kong sabihin, ‘yung mga hanapbuhay natin, apektado. ‘Yung kaligtasan natin, apektado. Sino ba namang magwi-wish na mag-fail ‘yung gobyerno sa panahong ito?” said Robredo. 

(Isn’t it ridiculous? When the government fails, even the opposition is affected, right? What I mean to say here is that our livelihoods would be affected. Our safety would be affected. So who would want to wish for the government to fail at a time like this?)

Facing backlash from the public, Roque said he was sorry about how he became “emotional” when speaking to Limpin and other medical experts during the meeting, but that he would never apologize for what he actually said. – Rappler.com