Palace: Duterte did his best in COVID-19 response; gov’t in control of situation

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Monday assured the public that the government is “in control” of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that President Rodrigo Duterte did his “best” to address the health crisis.

“Tama ba ang mga hakbang na ginawa ng ating gobyerno? Ang sagot po namin – opo. Hindi po tayo perpekto, siguro po talaga we could have done better,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in an online briefing.

(Did the government do the right steps? Our answer is yes. We are not perfect, maybe we could have done better.)

“Pero narito na po tayo (But we are here) and one thing I can assure you, the President did the very best that he can and we are in control of the situation,” he added.

Roque’s statement comes on the heels of Vice President Leni Robredo criticizing the government for its lack of urgency in addressing the pandemic.

Robredo also advised Malacañang not to be “too sensitive” as she pointed out how her office has tried to fill up the administration’s “half-empty glass” COVID-19 response.

“Ang ating ginagawa po ngayon ay sinisiguro natin na habang wala pa pong bakuna eh mapapabagal natin iyong pagkalat ng sakit dahil kinakailangan eh bigyan natin ng medical assistance ang ating mga kababayan kapag sila po ay nagkasakit,” Roque pointed out.

(What we’re doing right now is ensuring that while there is no vaccine yet, we can slow down the spread of the disease since we need to give medical assistance to our countrymen should they fall ill.)

Roque also noted that the government was able to prevent the spike of COVID-19 infections to 3.6 million due to its imposition of lockdown measures.

The Philippines has so far recorded over 35,000 COVID-19 cases of which 1,244 have died and 9,686 have recovered.

JE