Palace spokesman Harry Roque on Thursday said television host Willie Revillame offered to donate money to the government’s efforts against Covid-19, but Malacañang requested in-kind donations such as test kits or “We Heal as One” centers instead.
Roque, who appeared on “Wowowin,” Revillame’s show on GMA Network, on Wednesday, said his guesting was made to “disseminate further… the message of hope that the Duterte administration is offering to our countrymen in times of crisis.”
“Unang-una po pinarating niya po sa akin na mayroon siyang substantial na donasyon. At ang aking rekomendasyon ay instead of cash gawin na lang niya in kind, either in the form of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing kits kasi iyan po iyong importanteng-importante o iyong pagpapagawa ng We Heal as One Center, kasi bagama’t may lupa ang gobyerno, ang kulang talaga ay iyong imprastraktura,” Roque said.
Roque said Revillame “was very receptive” to the suggestion.
“[I] emphasized to him po na talagang itong pagharap natin sa Covid, bayanihan naman talaga sa parte ng gobyerno at ng pribadong sektor,” he added.
Roque also explained that his appearance was informative, discussing anti-Covid-19 efforts “70 percent” of the time.
In his guesting, Roque also joked about Revillame being the cause of GMA rival ABS-CBN’s shutdown, which the host rejected. Roque also had a song number with a live band.
The country has a daily testing capacity of about 32,000, but only 8,500 to 9,500 tests are being administered daily according to the Department of Health. John Ezekiel J. Hirro