Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo’s camp on Thursday sternly denied Palace spokesman Harry Roque’s false claim that the vice president was pushing for an infomercial featuring the country’s two highest-ranking executive officials.
During President Rodrigo Duterte’s public address on Wednesday night, Roque claimed that Robredo “volunteered” to appear in an infomercial with the president.
“Ang ating mga kritiko po hindi nauubos talaga ang pagpupula….wala po talagang katapusan ‘yan….ngayon po, ngayong napapakita natin na dumadami na ang nagbabakuna, e bigla namang nag-volunteer gusto raw niyang um-appear sa infomercial kasama kayo,” Roque said.
“Sa loob-loob ko, matapos tayong siraan nang siraan e ngayong nagiging matagumpay ang ating vaccination e makikisama ngayon ‘no,” he added.
Roque was wrong; the infomercial was pitched by Sen. Joel Villanueva and Robredo’s camp had only expressed the vice president’s openness to the idea.
But Roque doubled down on his false claim in his media briefing on Thursday.
“Ang tingin ko po, it was really volunteering,” he said.
Barry Guttierez, Robredo’s spokesman, called out Roque on Twitter for “lying.”
“Let me illustrate the difference between fact and opinion. Fact: VP Leni never ‘pushed’ to have a joint infomercial with the president, and Sec Roque is lying if he insists that she did. Opinion: Someone who habitually lies is probably someone you shouldn’t trust,” he said.
The vaccine infomercial will supposedly help allay Filipinos’ Covid-19 vaccination fears, Villanueva said. John Ezekiel J. Hirro