By Deighton Acuin

PHOTO: Rappler/PCOO-OPS

Malacañang defended President Rodrigo Duterte anew as the critics online remarked that he was a “once-a-week President,” adding Duterte has a lot on his plate.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after criticisms online during the weekly Talk to the People address.

Interviewed over GMA’s Stand for Truth, Roque denied that Duterte only does his jobs on Mondays — a day when he delivers his public address since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Hindi totoo ‘yan,” Roque said.

“Very busy po ang schedule ni Presidente at sa much as possible, pinapakita naman natin ang mga activities niya,” Roque added.

Though it was edited and telecast belatedly, Roque said that the Chief Executive’s address is important because that was his only means of communicating the Filipinos.

“Importante kasi na magkaroon siya ng ‘Talk to the People’ dahil limitado nga po ang interaction niya,” he said.

However, Roque also admitted that he has limited access to the President.

“Let’s put it this way: From the very first time that I was spokesperson, I tried to be as scientific and as systematic as possible. In that sense, wala pong nabago,” he said.

“Pero ngayon po nalimitahan po tayo ng access kay Presidente dahil sa pandemya,” Roque added.

Roque replaced Ernesto Abella as Duterte’s spokesman in 2017, but later resigned from his post in 2018 to run for a Senate seat — a bid he eventually had to let go of because of health reasons. He was brought back in April last year in an attempt to better communicate the government’s COVID-19 response efforts to the public.


RELATED ARTICLE: Manila Bulletin

DISCLAIMER