FOR presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, reporting and sensationalizing viral photos of him showing breach of government restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is not right.
Roque particularly vented his ire on the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the ABS-CBN for reporting the breach of pandemic protocols in an event that he attended last week in Bantayan Island in Cebu.
Viral photos from the event in Cebu showed that although a large crowd was wearing anti-virus masks, they were seated or standing close together, as they listened to a speech by Roque and other officials. More than the lack of physical distancing among his audience, photos also showed kids joining the huge crowd which also accounts for another violation – this time at a public gathering.
An obviously pissed off Roque went as “low” as presenting a slideshow of photos from Robredo’s visit of typhoon-hit areas, where she could be seen shaking the hands of residents.
“Ang kinakasama ko ng loob, bakit ako ang pinupuruhan palagi ng Inquirer and ng ABS-CBN?” he said in a press briefing. “Bakit noong nakikita n’yo sa screen si VP Leni, nakipag-handshake handshake pa, hindi ba violation ito ng restriction on social distancing?”
“Ang tanong ko naman sa mga media na kasama natin, patas sana,” he added.
As an offshoot of the event in Cebu, the inter-agency task force leading the country’s pandemic response hinted on looking into the incident.
“There’s going to be an investigation, well and good, para makita na pinaalalahanan ko pa yung mga tao na mag-iwas,” said Roque.
“Siguro ang hindi ko na-realize, I’ve come to a point na talagang mga tao, lalabas para makita ako. Siguro po hindi na ako lalabas pag may mga crowd,” he said.
Prior to this snafu, Roque also figured in another incident that had him caught on cam singing in a videoke bar at a time when Typhoon Ulysses was unleashing its fury in Cagayan province.