Public can't be choosy on vaccines? De Lima to Roque: 'Akala ko ba human rights lawyer ka?'

Echoing other senators’ response, Senator Leila De Lima expressed her distaste for Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque’s COVID-19 vaccine comment by questioning his inclination with human rights.

De Lima argued in her recent dispatch that the Filipinos’ right to choose the vaccine they want to administer in themselves is not “too much.”

“The Filipinos are not asking for too much, Mr. Roque. The public has the right to choose which vaccine they would be willing to take so they would know which side effects they would also be saying yes to. Akala ko ba human rights lawyer ka?” the detained senator told.

Moreover, she emphasized the difference between the Presidential Security Group (PSG) personnel and normal citizens in this matter.

“Hindi PSG ang taumbayan para pilitin at utusan tanggapin ang bakuna na wala silang tiwala,” noted De Lima.

Prior to this, senators Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, Panfilo Lacson, and Joel Villanueva also aired their condemnation of such a statement.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, accordingly, previously explained that this is a case-to-case basis. 

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