Sen. Imee Marcos, during the virtual hearing of the Senate. Screen grab / Senate PRIB file photo
MANILA, Philippines—Senator Imee Marcos is not yet done criticizing the government’s habit of using “fancy” names to describe quarantine measures against Covid-19.
“You know it would be comical, if it weren’t so tragic,” Marcos said when the “NCR bubble” was mentioned in an interview over ABS-CBN’s News Channel’s “Headstart” on Tuesday.
“Really, papalit palit ng pangalan e, parang nakakatawa na [They kept on changing names, it has become a laughing matter]. Effectively this is a lockdown, you know that, everyone knows that.”
“Huwag naman nating niloloko ang tao kasi kung ano na lang mga fancy names NCR Plus, NCR Pro, NCR Pro Max, ano ba?” she said in an apparent reference to various models of Apple iPhones.
(Let’s not fool the people with fancy names—-NCR Plus, NCR Pro, NCR Pro Max.)
The government recently placed the National Capital Region (NCR) and four nearby provinces—Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal—under a general community quarantine from March 22 to April 4.
It was later known as NCR Bubble or NCR Plus Bubble.
Other terms also earlier surfaced like “circuit breaker,” and “soft” and hard quarantine measures, making it more confusing to many, Marcos lamented.
“Talagang nakakahilo na, ano ba ibig sabihin nitong mga ECQ, GCQ … BBQ, ano ba?” she further said.
(It really makes us dizzy, what is the meaning of these ECQ, GCQ… BBQ, what?)
Even former Vice President Jejomar Binay believes that the so-called “bubble” is a lockdown in reality.
“What’s in a name? The so-called ‘bubble’ is in reality a lockdown. But gov’t won’t call it a lockdown because it will be an admission of their failure, neglect, and incompetence. Stop blaming the people,” Binay said in a tweet Monday.