The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has once again issued a show-cause order, this time, to Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez to explain the early vaccination of actor Mark Anthony Fernandez despite not being part of the country’s top priority in its inoculation program.

READ: Mark Anthony Fernandez gets early vaccine jab; Parañaque mayor defends

“Command responsibility niya ang pagsisigurado na ang ating vaccination plan ay nasunod sa kanyang local na gobyerno,” DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said on Thursday.

Earlier, Densing expressed his dismay following a report that Fernandez has received a dose of Astrazeneca vaccine against COVID-19.

“Kaninang umaga, napipikon ako, pikon na pikon ako dahil dito sa Parañaque, may artista na binakunahan, yung Mark Anthony Fernandez,” he said in an interview.

“Meron tayong priority list, may programa na sinusunod. So yung mayor dyan, dapat sinusunod niya at alam niya yung pagi-implement ng vaccination program niya,” he added.

Olivarez, in a statement, defended the jab and said that Fernandez has comorbidities such as hypertension and depression that qualify him as a substitute on the COVID-19 vaccination priority list.

“Excuse na lang nila ‘yun nung nalaman, lumabas sa balita na nakapagpalusot sila ng non-priority individual. Gumawa na lang sila ng rason,” Densing said.

Based on the country’s vaccination list of priority groups, frontline healthcare workers topped the list, followed by senior citizens and persons with co-morbidities.

Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned the country that it should follow its prioritization list, or else the country will no longer receive vaccines from the COVAX facility.

Earlier this week, Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez said he was vaccinated with CoronaVac, a vaccine donated by China. He confirmed that he got vaccinated, but denied ‘skipping the line’ for selfish reasons.

In an interview with DZRH’s Dos Por Dos, the mayor said he only wanted to dispel the ‘bad publicity’ on COVID-19 vaccines by volunteering to get inoculated.