Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque says face-to-face courting among the youth will soon commence following the ceremonial vaccination of tertiary students against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Wednesday, Oct. 13.

"Napakaimportante po ng bakuna. Ito ang susi para tayo ay makabalik sa buhay na tayo po ay nasanay. Ito po ang susi para makabalik ng face-to-face classrooms sa ating mga colleges and universities (Vaccines are very important. This is the key to returning to our old way of life. This is the key to resuming face-to-face classes in our colleges and universities)," Roque said in a taped message during the "Padyak Para sa Flexible Learning, Sama-Samang Vaccination Program" event held Wednesday morning at Mabalacat City College, Pampanga.

"Alam naman natin kung walang face-to-face classes eh wala tayong makikitang mga crush na pupuwede nating ligawan o yung mga nanliligaw na pupuwedeng sagutin (We know that without face-to-face classes, we won't see in person our crushes who we want to court or the suitors who we want to say 'yes' to)," he said.

"So, nagagalak po ako na matutuloy na ang ligawan sa ating mga colleges and universities dahil meron na pong mga bakuna na maituturok sa mga braso ng ating mga kabataan (So, I'm happy that courting will soon commence in our colleges and universities thanks to the availability of vaccines for our youth)," the Palace official further said.

The ceremonial vaccination of tertiary students took place two days before the official start of the government's pediatric vaccination on minors aged 12 to 17.

The Philippines has been reported to be among the last countries in the world to reopen its schools for in-person learning since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

"Congratulations sa mga kabataan na nagpapabakuna ngayon, at ang mensahe sa lahat ng kabataan, magpabakuna na po nang tayo po ay makapagbalik-buhay. Dahil sa bakuna, puwedeng bumalik-buhay (I congratulate the youth who are getting vaccinated today, and my message to all youth is, let’s all have ourselves vaccinated in order to get back to our lives. With the vaccine, we can do this)," Roque said.

He further said that there's no reason for colleges and universities not to become 100 percent vaccinated since the government has already rolled out COVID-19 jabs for the general population.

The Philippines began its mass vaccination program against COVID-19 on March 1, 2021.