‘Second wave’ snafu and all, Palace says gov’t COVID-19 messaging remains effective

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Friday insisted that the government’s messaging amid the COVID-19 crisis remained “effective and organized,” even as confusion marred the Department of Health’s pronouncements on the actual phase of the Philippines in terms of combatting the pandemic.

The health department has since retracted the remarks of DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III, who said that the country is “actually” now on the second wave of coronavirus infections.

His statement was met with public backlash and opposition from some senators, lawmakers, and even government officials, especially after President Rodrigo Duterte himself repeatedly mentioned trying to avoid the second wave of COVID-19 cases in his speeches.

Roque also repudiated Duque’s claim, which prompted DOH to recant and apologize for the confusion and alarm.

But the Palace official defended Duque’s “different opinion,” claiming that the Health chief could have been “rattled” during the congressional hearing. He also argued that government announcements about the coronavirus pandemic are “by and large effective.”

“Ang tingin ko naman po ay organized naman po. Kaya nga lang po, Senate hearing iyon siyempre medyo natataranta iyong ibang kasama natin ‘no, so medyo iba ang mga nasasabi,” Roque said in an interview over dzMM.

(I think it’s organized. But its a Senate hearing so I guess our colleagues were rattled so they make announcements that are a bit different.)

“Pero by and large, until nangyari naman po itong insidenteng ito, tingin ko it has been centralized and it has been rather effective,” he added.

(But by and large, until this incident happened, I think it has been centralized and it has been rather effective.)

More than a week after he was reappointed as Duterte’s spokesperson, Roque was designated to take the lead in disseminating information on how the government is responding to the COVID-19 health crisis.

Prior to the order, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles has been at the forefront of the government’s information dissemination concerning the health crisis.

EDV