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At least five mayors received orders to show cause to obtain COVID-19 vaccines ahead of those on the priority list, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Wednesday.
DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said that orders to show cause were issued to the following mayors as of Tuesday:
- Mayor Alfred Romualdez of Tacloban City, Leyte
- Mayor Draw Tuan de T’boli, South Cotabato
- Mayor Sulpicio Villalobos of Sto. Nino, South Cotabato
- Mayor Noel Rosal of Legazpi City, Albay
- Major Abraham Ibba of Bataraza, Palawan
Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Densing said that these mayors have to explain their vaccine, which may have violated the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
“We believe there is a violation. That’s why they are sending them, in fact now they are sending orders to show cause, so that they can explain why they were vaccinated before the others on the priority list, “he said.
(We think there was a violation. So we sent them show cause orders to explain why they got vaccinated earlier than others on the priority list.)
If the violations are confirmed, Densing said that the DILG will forward the complaint to the Ombudsman’s Office to decide on the sanctions to be imposed on mayors.
Based on the prioritization established by the national government, the implementation of vaccination in the country will begin with frontline health workers, indigent seniors, remaining seniors, the remaining homeless population, and uniformed personnel.
GMA News Online has communicated on Wednesday with interested mayors through their Facebook pages, as well as the Facebook pages of their city or municipality and the public information office. The mayors have not yet responded.
In a statement Tuesday, the Tacloban city mayor’s office said Romualdez was inoculated with the Sinovac vaccine to convince others to get the vaccine.
Statement from Mayor Alfred Romualdez’s office on his Sinovac vaccine inoculation We confirm that the Mayor …
Published by the Information Office of the City of Tacloban – CIO on Monday, March 22, 2021
“We would like to put on the record that Mayor Romualdez volunteered to be publicly vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine to increase confidence in the government’s vaccination program,” he said.
“At the time the vaccination was done, healthcare workers were hesitant to take advantage of Sinovac, opting instead to stop by and wait for other Western-made brands,” he added. —KG, GMA News
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