The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) confirmed Sunday, March 28 that it has yet to receive the explanation of the local chief executives (LCEs) who were issued with show cause orders (SCO) for breach of COVID-19 vaccination protocol.

DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Bernardo Florece Jr. bared this in an interview over GMA News when asked for their response to the DILG’s SCO stressing the need in the name of due process to study the explanation of the concerned parties.

“Titignan naman natin kung ano explanation nila. From there, titignan natin kung dapat ba talagang ituloy ang kaso o puwede nating i-admonish lang o i-reprimand ( We will analyze their (LCE) explanations. From there, we will see if cases should be filed or we can just admonish or reprimanded them),’’ Florece explained.

Critics lambasted the LCE for taking the COVID-19 dose ahead of the frontliners and others listed in the priority sector with others stressing that the issuance of the SCO is too light for their inappropriate actions in the midst of the pandemic.

In a March 25 briefing, DILG Undersecretary for operations Epimaco Densing III noted that in the previous Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) meetings it was emphasized that the frontliners will act as “influencers’’ and not the LCE.

He echoed the President’s declaration that the alibi of the LCE that they were immunized to entice more of their qualified constituents to get the COVID-19 is merely an “universal excuse’’.

At least five mayors have been issued a show cause order for skipping the line for COVID-19 vaccination.

The Tacloban City government said Mayor Alfred Romualdez was inoculated with the Sinovac vaccine to convince others to get the jab.

“We would like to state for the record that Mayor Romualdez volunteered to be publicly vaccinated with Sinovac vaccine in order to boost confidence in the vaccination program of the government. At the time the vaccination was done, health workers were hesitant to avail of Sinovac, opting instead to pass and wait for other Western made brands,” the statement read.

Florece said that the LCE might have misinterpreted the priority listing for COVID-19 vaccines, thinking that since they are mayors, they are also considered frontliners.

The priority list of the national government states that the vaccination rollout in the country will start with frontline health workers, indigent senior citizens, remaining senior citizens, remaining indigent population and uniformed personnel.