Malacanang is standing by President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement wishing for Vice President Leni Robredo’s death.

Robredo earned the ire of Duterte after she commented on the government’s vaccination program and questionable preference over the Sinovac vaccine.

“Iyan ang mahirap sa iyo eh, you want to be relevant. And you….you know, sometimes you make an idiotic stance. Iyong mga ganoong ‘they deserve the best.’ Anak ka ng…Bakit ako? I would give them the worst? Mamatay ka na. Hindi ko iwanan ‘yong mga frontliners and you do not need to really be redundant about it,” Duterte said on Monday.

RELATED STORY: Duterte to Robredo: ‘Kunin mo yung basket mo, mamalengke ka ng bakuna sa labas’

Roque backed the President’s statement and said that the remarks will remain.

“Well, what he said remains. But the context, because, ang sinasabi kasi ng Vice President, kailangan aprubahan muna ng HTAC bago ibigay sa mga doktor,” he said.

“The President said, I read the UHC law itself, recommendatory po iyang HTAC, hindi po yan intended to second-guess the FDA,” Roque added.

Robredo said in her Sunday radio show that Sinovac should get a license from HTAC before administering it to healthcare workers.

READ ON: Duterte dares Robredo on Sinovac: Siya ang mauna

“Kasi iyong Pfizer nga saka AstaZeneca, mayroon. Ano ba naman iyong hintayin natin, hintayin natin iyong HTAC na maglabas ng positive recommendation? Kasi kung walang positive recommendation, huwag muna, kasi ‘di ba, mahirap iyon,” Robredo said.

“Kasi, donated man iyan o bibilhin natin, kailangan natin proteksyunan iyong ating mga kababayan. So ano ba naman iyong magkaroon ng positive recommendation [ang HTAC],” Robredo added.

The government rolled out its vaccination program following the arrival of 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines from China. (TDT)

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