Manila Bishop Broderick Pabillo on Tuesday said questions on how presidential spokesman Harry Roque secured a hospital room at the Philippine General Hospital were not “un-Christian.”
Pabillo said given the context that most medical facilities were full because of the surge in COVID-19 cases, government officials like Roque must not shy away from such questions.
It was uncalled for to label people who ask legitimate questions. How was that ‘un-Christian?’ It was an innocent question,” the bishop said in an interview with ABS-CBN Teleradyo.
“Public figures must be transparent in answering questions. That’s the problem: When people ask, instead of answering the question, they respond with ad hominem. They attack the person. That is not right,” Pabillo added.
Roque, who said he had to be admitted after his oxygen level dropped to 90, said he “was in bad shape” when he was admitted to PGH last week.
“Hindi po pupuwede ang palakasan dito,” Roque said Tuesday in a press briefing.
The Department of Health, for its part, refused to comment on prioritization of Roque.
“We have our protocols and there is also triaging system in our hospitals based on the level of severity of pati ents when they come in. For this, please forgive me I’m not going to comment on this but as I’ve said, we have protocols in our system,” DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an ANC Headstart interview Monday.
