Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque (File photo)
MANILA – Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque issued clarification on Wednesday about his recent statement that Filipinos have been on vacation for nearly a year due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
This, after Roque drew flak from the public after he defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s earlier decision to reclassify this year’s Nov. 2 (All Souls’ Day), December 24 (Christmas Eve), and December 31 (Last Day of the Year) as special working days.
Roque, in a virtual presser on Tuesday, said Duterte had revised the classification of the three public holidays to enable the country to recover “lost time” since it has been on “vacation” mode for almost a year.
“Halos isang taon na tayong nagbakasyon dahil sa Covid-19. Siguro naman po ngayong nandito na ang bakuna, hayaan naman nating maka-recover tayo for lost time ‘no (We have been on vacation for nearly a year because of Covid-19. Perhaps, we need to recover for lost time now that the vaccine is here),” he said.
After the backlash, Roque clarified that his “vacation” comment was only meant to give emphasis to Filipinos’ unemployment since the pandemic broke out.
“Ang konteksto lang nito, talagang maraming tao ang hindi nakapaghanapbuhay dahil dito sa pandemiyang ito. Kaya nga ninanais ng economic team na makahabol naman tayo (The context of this is many people were unable to work because of the pandemic. The economic team wants us to catch up),” he said.
Roque said Filipinos should grab the chance to earn and work following the reopening of the Philippine economy.
“Hindi naman po talaga bakasyon 'yan, kung hindi, hindi nakapagtatrabaho. Kaya ngayon na pupuwede na po tayong makapagtrabaho sana dahil nagbubukas na tayo ng ekonomiya, hayaan naman nating kumita at makapagtrabaho ang ating mga kababayan (That is not really a vacation but rather failure to earn a living. So now that we can resume work because we’re reopening the economy, let us allow our countrymen to earn and work),” he said.
November 2 (Tuesday), December 24 (Friday) and December 31 (Friday) were initially declared as special non-working days.
However, Duterte on Feb. 26 signed Proclamation 1107, declaring the three traditional holidays as special working days to boost economic productivity in the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Duterte, in his Proclamation 1107, stressed the need to minimize work disruption by commemorating some special holidays as special working days instead.
On Feb.1, Duterte said the Philippines is losing PHP2 billion a day due to Covid-19. (PNA)
