The Quezon City Police District has a lot of explaining to do for its supposed failure to control fans of television host Willie Revillame in front of Wil Tower during his birthday last Jan. 27.
Mayor Joy Belmonte on Thursday said: “I was told today the QCPD sent a contingent, so I have to get their side of the story.”
“I want to know why there are reports in the media about the crowd control,” she added.
Revillame’s fans flocked to the Wil Tower along Eugenio Lopez Drive for his traditional gift-giving to indigents.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), a crowd gathered outside Wil Tower because it was the 60th birthday of Willie Revillame,” the city mayor said.
“It is his [Revillame] custom that whenever it is his birthday. People come and visit him, and he also gives his assistance to indigent members of the society and he was worried,” she added.
Belmonte said ahead of his birthday, she had already advised Revillame to coordinate with law enforcers or security personnel to ensure crowd control among his fans.
Meanwhile, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., National Policy Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar, said Thursday the government is ready to augment the Quezon City government’s plan to vaccinate non-resident workers.
“The national government is more than willing to support the Quezon City on its drive to include (in) its institutional concept of vaccinating the workers,” Galvez said in an interview during the visit of the COVID-19 Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) team in Quezon City.
He made the statement after Mayor Joy Belmonte said the city government is seriously considering the inoculation of these individuals, especially front-liners and business operators, who do not reside but spend most of their time in Quezon City for work and business.
“It might be very fair for them to be vaccinated in Quezon City, so this is (being) considered very seriously and as soon as we get proper guidance as to how to go about with this, definitely Quezon City is very open to doing this,” Belmonte said.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said because the bulk of hospitals is in Quezon City, many health care workers do not reside in the city.
“If we inoculate health care workers, especially those in hospitals and clinical settings, even if they do not reside in Quezon City but are working here, they will be part of the vaccination rollout since front-liners will be the first to get vaccinated,” Nograles said.
On the other hand, Galvez said Quezon City is among the LGUs that have signed tripartite agreements with the national government and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca to purchase Covid-19 vaccines.
Under the agreement, the city government has increased its initial order from 750,000 doses to 1.1 million doses of coronavirus jabs.
He noted that the more residents vaccinated, the faster herd immunity is achieved.
“We are therefore pleased to know that (the) Quezon City government plans to increase by two to three times the current number of its health workers who will be administering the vaccine,” Galvez said, adding that the city government is finalizing the list of its vaccine sites.
He said the successful rollout of the nationwide vaccination program would depend on the effective planning and preparations of LGUs.
“To ensure the efficient rollout of our vaccine program, it is crucial for our LGUs to come up with three lists: the list of your target vaccine recipients, the list of personnel who will be deployed as vaccinators, and the list of vaccination centers,” Galvez said.
He reiterated the significant role of LGUs in the implementation of the national immunization program.
“With the proliferation of unverified and fake news, people would inevitably have doubts and apprehensions,” Galvez said.
He said the LGUs should explain their vaccination plans and preparations.
“There is a need for us to come up with an intensified information campaign at the community level so that we can provide greater clarity to the issues and concerns raised by our people,” Galvez added.