Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr assured that the national government’s mass vaccination program against COVID-19 would continue even in areas in Batangas affected by the recent eruption of the Taal Volcano.
In a press briefing on July 5, 2021, Secretary Roque thanked the local government units that donated vaccines as part of the government’s initial assistance that were distributed to various evacuation centers in Batangas.
“Nagbigay po ng 1,500 ang Quezon City, 1,000 ang Mandaluyong, 1,000 ang Taguig, 2,000 ang Manila, 1,000 ang Marikina, 1,000 ang Parañaque. At kaninang umaga ay nagkaroon ng bakunahan sa bayan ng Agoncillo sa Batangas,” said Secretary Roque.
The Palace official also mentioned that as of July 2, 2021, there are now 11, 708, 029 total COVID-19 vaccine doses that have been administered nationwide, according to data from the COVID-19 Vaccination Operations Center.
Roque added that AstraZeneca vaccines donated by the government of Japan and Sputnik V vaccines (Component I and II) bought by the Philippine government are expected to be delivered within the week.
Meanwhile, on the C-130 crash in Sulu, the Palace spokesperson said that the President is deeply saddened of the demise of those who perished in the crash.
“Nagpapaabot po ng pakikiramay si Presidente Rodrigo Roa Duterte sa pamilya ng mga nasawi ng bumagsak na C-130 sa Sulu. Nagluluksa hindi lamang ang Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas ngunit ang buong bansa sa malungkot na pangyayaring ito,” said Roque.
Sec. Roque said that this incident will provide impetus to further modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
In the same press briefing, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones addressed the World Bank report detailing the country’s poor state of education. The DepEd Secretary said that the World Bank has admitted to have based their assessment partly on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2019 data, and therefore did not consider new development in the field of education.
Sec. Briones also said that the World Bank did not follow protocols for releasing data by not informing the Philippines of the said report before releasing it to media.
Meanwhile, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rolando Bautista addressed the corruption allegations surrounding the Social Amelioration Program (SAP). Secretary Bautista said that the DSWD is ready to face any investigation and submit the needed documents to answer the said allegations.
Bautista explained that all funds that were distributed to financial service providers (FSPs) were all accounted for and that all assistance given are supported by liquidation reports that they can share if needed. The DSWD Secretary assured that all processes that were done by FSPs in the pay-outs follow processes approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and are aligned with government accounting rules and procedures. ### OPS-PCOO
