Palace touts ‘excellent’ action vs COVID-19 as PH nears 365 days under community isolation

MANILA, Philippines — As the nation was about to mark its first full year of being under community quarantine, Malacañang has given itself a pat on the back for what it described as an “excellent” COVID-19 pandemic response of the government.

In an online briefing on Monday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the government was able to control the spread of new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 compared to richer countries.

“We were excellent,” Roque said when asked to assess the government’s performance in handling the pandemic.

“Na-control po natin ang pagkalat ng sakit lalong-lalo na kung ikukumpara tayo sa mas mayayaman at mga bansa na mas mararami at moderno ang mga ospital,” he added.

(We controlled the spread of the disease compared to richer countries that have modern hospitals.)

Pressed how he could say that the government was “excellent” despite the economic recession and job loss among Filipinos, Roque said the government was able to limit the number of deaths compared to the United States.

“We were excellent in managing it. Unfortunately habang walang bakuna, talagang maraming mahahawa at meron pa rin mamamatay. But we had limited deaths to around 12,000,” Roque said.

(We were excellent in managing it. Unfortunately, while there is no vaccine yet, many will be infected and there will still be deaths. But we had limited deaths to around 12,000.)

“Ikumpara mo naman ‘yan sa Estados Unidos. You are talking of hundreds and thousands of deaths in countries which are richer,” he went on. The US has so far recorded more than 524,000 deaths.

(Compare that to the United States. You are talking of hundreds and thousands of deaths in countries that are richer.)

Roque also noted how the government was quick to impose the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) back then to strengthen the country’s medical facilities.

It was on March 15 last year when the government placed Metro Manila under ECQ. The next day, the government declared the entire Luzon under ECQ.

KGA