‘What a heartless leader’: De Lima chides Duterte for ‘outburst’ vs healthcare workers

MANILA, Philippines — “What a heartless leader.”

Senator Leila de Lima on Monday chided President Rodrigo Duterte for his “outburst” against medical workers who aired out their concerns over the country’s healthcare system amid the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a dispatch from Camp Crame on Monday, De Lima said Duterte should have laid out a concrete plan to address the pandemic, especially to provide support for the healthcare system and the medical workforce, during his State of the Nation Address last July 27.

“Dapat kasi ang naging focus ni Duterte sa kanyang SONA 2020 ay yung paglatag ng mga konkretong plano para tugunan and COVID-19 health crisis, lalo na ang suporta sa healthcare system at mga healthcare workers. Yan naman talaga yung inaasahan ng buong bansa noong July 27. Pero wala!” she said.

(What should have been the focus of Duterte’s 2020 SONA was to lay out the concrete plans to respond to the COVID-19 health crisis, especially the support it would lend to the health care workers. That’s exactly what the entire nation was expecting him to say last July 27, but nothing!”)

“Ngayon, nagalit si Duterte sa mga doktor na nagpahayag lang naman ng kanilang mga saloobin. Karapatan nila yan. Habaan na lang muna daw ang pasensya nila… What a heartless leader,” she added.

(Now, he’s ranting against doctors who are just airing our concerns. That’s their right. He said that they should just lengthen their patience… What a heartless leader.)

In a speech aired late Sunday, the President warned healthcare workers not to “demean [the] government” after they had publicly grieved about their plight instead of seeking an audience with the administration.

The President’s word were prompted by health workers’ appeal for a reimposition of a strict lockdown in Metro Manila to give them time to recuperate from exhaustion due to the continuous surge of COVID-19 cases nationwide, which had already breached the 100,000 mark.

“Then you threaten a revolution. This is our country. You want us to destroy it? Start it now,” Duterte had said.

Nevertheless, the President approved the reimposition of a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila and other nearby provinces as the country continue to see a surge of COVID-19 cases.

EDV