MANILA, Philippines 鈥� She cracked every word that came out of her lips like a whip.
During an online discussion forum on Friday, Dr. Leni Jara gave presidential spokesperson Harry Roque a stern rebuke for castigating doctors who opposed the general community quarantine (GCQ) at the IATF Zoom meeting last Tuesday.
鈥淏astos mo! (You鈥檙e rude!) You should apologize to them; you owe them an apology,鈥� she snapped during an online forum in retaliation to Roque鈥檚 flare-up.
鈥淕alit na galit itong si Mr. Harry Roque, he鈥檚 berating health professionals,鈥� she went on.
(Mr. Roque is so mad, he鈥檚 berating health professionals.)
鈥淧wede ba, tumigil ka! Sobra ka na, binastos mo na ang mga nagta-trabaho at ang nagliligtas ng mga pasyente,鈥� Jara added.
(Can you please stop! That鈥檚 too much; you are disrespecting the workers and those who are saving the patients!)
Jara of the Solidarity of Health Advocates and Personnel for a Unified Plan to Defeat COVID-19 (Shape Up) demanded an apology from Roque after a video of his outburst during the Tuesday meeting went viral. The Philippine Daily Inquirer obtained a copy of the video.
A portion of the video shows a visibly pissed-off Roque flipping off a group of doctors who had expressed grievances over the government鈥檚 response, which had been criticized for incompetence and investigated for corruption.
鈥淲e employed the 鈥榚ntire government approach鈥� thinking about economic ramifications, thinking about the people (who) will go hungry. It does not mean that we care any less,鈥� snarled Roque.
鈥淎nd let me point out to everyone, this group, they have never said anything good about the government response,鈥� he said, pointing the finger at his computer screen.
Roque on Friday apologized for being 鈥渆motional鈥� during the meeting, saying that 鈥渉e鈥檚 just a human being.鈥�
READ: Roque sorry for 鈥榚motional鈥� outburst, claims message was on behalf of hungry people
Even so, Roque鈥檚 behavior at the Zoom meeting was met with a firestorm of criticisms from other doctors and social media users.
鈥淵ou have NOTHING good to say to the Filipinos,鈥� former National Taskforce Advisor Tony Leachon said in a Facebook post on Friday, referring to Roque. 鈥淲e deserve better leaders!鈥�
At the time of posting, Harry Roque was also trending on Twitter Philippines. The topic 鈥淗arry Roque鈥� was tweeted more than 12,800 times.
READ: Kalma, ako lang 鈥榯o: Roque trends on Twitter as video of 鈥榤eltdown鈥� during IATF meeting聽 turns up
The IATF meeting supposedly took place shortly before Roque鈥檚 announcement on Tuesday night that the government had deferred its decision to pilot granular lockdowns and ease Metro Manila鈥檚 lockdown status to a less stringent general community quarantine.
Metro Manila is under modified enhanced community quarantine until September 15.