IN what appears to be his way of starting off the Holy Week observance, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque asked God why the global pandemic was allowed to happen.
His statement delivered in a press briefing on Saturday night instantly drew flak and nasty remarks from netizens.
Moments after making the government announcement placing the National Capital Region and its adjoining provinces back under the most stringent lockdown, Roque said: “Bakit kaya pinayagan ng Panginoon itong pandemyang ito?”
Roque admitted that life has not been easy just for the Filipinos but also to other countries as well.
“Alam ninyo po talagang napakahirap ng buhay dito sa pandemya, at naiintindihan po natin iyan. Pero hindi naman po tayo nag-iisa. Hindi lang naman po Pilipinas ang may ganitong pahirap. Sana po gamitin din natin itong pagkakataon na ito magdasal, magmuni-muni at pag-isipan kung ano talaga ang ating relasyon sa ating Maykapal,” Roque said.
“Ang tanong po ng marami: Bakit kaya pinayagan ng Panginoon itong pandemyang ito?” added Roque, who has earned himself more barrage and nasty remarks from social media.
During the same briefing, Roque said that the government re-imposing a hard lockdown was meant to significantly reduce the number of virus contamination by as much as 25 percent.
“I think the expectation is mas malaki pa po sa 25 percent because this is ECQ. We’re estimating that with these measures and at the end of the two-week period, that the numbers would drop by at least 25 percent, but we’re hoping for more,” he quipped.