Lockdowns are biggest proof PH not winning fight vs COVID-19, says Binay

MANILA, Philippines—Strict quarantine restrictions still being enforced in the country disprove a claim made by Palace spokesperson Harry Roque that the government was winning the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sen. Nancy Binay on Wednesday (July 1).

Binay, Senate tourism committee chair, also said the number of COVID-19 cases nationwide had been surging consistently in the last several weeks compared to the number of cases in neighboring countries, like Vietnam.

She said it was still “too early” for Malacanang to declare victory over the contagion, which had already infected more than 40,000 Filipinos.

“If we are winning, we should already have a semblance of normalcy, especially here in Metro Manila,” Binay said in a television interview.

“The mere fact that we’re still under general community quarantine, that means we’re not winning the battle (against COVID-19),” she said.

Binay said the high cost of COVID-19 testing could be the reason the government had failed to hit its target of 30,000 tests per day.

“We’re still at just 16,000 (tests a day),” she said. “As I have said, what’s the use of increasing the capacity (to test) when we cannot do the actual tests,” she added.

Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the government should learn to be “honest” if it wanted to end the health crisis.

“How can we say that we are ‘winning’?” said Hontiveros. She said it could be hardly called victory if the country has 40,000 COVID-19 cases, 7.3 million jobless Filipinos and lacked support and protection for doctors and health workers.

“We cannot beat the pandemic if we’re not honest with ourselves,” she said.

TSB