Senators dispute, denounce Duque’s COVID-19 second wave claim

Sens. Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines — Some senators disagreed with the “premature” remark of the Health Secretary Francisco Duque III that the country is now facing a second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, with one lawmaker claiming that the health chief made the pronouncement as a “way of patting himself on the back.”

“Not only do I not agree but medical experts have also expressed their disagreement with the statement attributed to Secretary Duque…because we have not yet gone past the first wave so how can we say na we are now already confronting the second wave?” Senator Panfilo Lacson said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel on Thursday.

“That’s one way of patting himself on the back. But not for a good reason. If you are basing your statement only to pat yourself on your shoulders and you are basing your statement on wrong conclusion, you are doing your country a disservice,” he added.

Duque, during a Senate hearing on Wednesday, said the Philippines is already experiencing the second wave of coronavirus infections.

He said the first wave occurred when the country saw its first three cases of the virus, which involved the three Chinese nationals from Wuhan City, where the outbreak originated.

Dr. John Wong, an epidemiology expert and part of the government’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), also explained that the second wave of COVID-19 infections in the country peaked at the end of March.

But Lacson pointed out that the Department of Health (DOH) may be basing its conclusion on “inaccurate” data.

He said the DOH should come up with a database “pointing to the number of cases as tested on a specific date.”

“Because those tested say last May 1, ang result nakukuha 14 days after. It’s not accurate data, they tested 10,000 people last May 1, they should come out with those cases or the infection on that particular date, not 14 days after,” Lacson explained.

“If we base our decision on inaccurate data, chances are we’ll be coming up with wrong decisions or wrong conclusions,” he added.

‘Still gaining momentum’

Senator Richard Gordon, who also chairs the Philippine Red Cross, said Duque’s pronouncement was “premature.”

“We are still gaining momentum right now and hopefully we can indeed pass the first wave…But it doesn’t matter whether first wave or second wave, I expect the worst is till to come. Sa nakikita natin, we are only testing 0.2 percent of the population, not even one percent. So kailangan talaga we have to cooperate with everyone and conduct the tests,” he said in a separate interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.

“I think he was premature (in making the pronouncement)…Certainly he’s under pressure not only from his peers, from the Cabinet, from everybody na ‘Let’s move it’,” he added.

For his part, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Duque’s pronouncement regarding the supposed second wave of COVID-19 infections “serves no purpose except to heighten the tension.”

“Hindi naman totoo. Nakakalungkot. Maraming pagkukulang. (It’s not true.  It’s sad.  There are deficiencies) The confidence of the people on the IATF, and the government in general, to contain the virus is one of the factors to prevent the spread of the virus,” he said in a radio interview.

“Kung nakikita mo na mali-mali ang data at hindi nagkakasundo kung ano ang standard, talagang nawawalan ng tiwala ang taumbayan sa kakayahan ng pamahalaan na ma-contain yung virus na ito,” Drilon added, citing how several other health experts and even top government officials, like Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, negated the health chief’s pronouncement.

(If there is wrong data and there is no agreement on what the standards are, the public will lose trust in the government’s capability to combat the spread of the virus)

The Philippines, as of Wednesday afternoon, has 13,221 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Two thousand nine hundred thirty two patients have recovered while 842 have died.

Around 240,000 have so far been tested in the country.

The government is eyeing to test a total of two million Filipinos with a target goal of increasing the country’s testing capacity to 50,000 COVID-19 tests per day by June.

GSG