Hontiveros to unveil COVID-19 recovery roadmap in Senate session

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros on Sunday said she will present her coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recovery roadmap during a Senate session as more than 100,000 people nationwide have contracted the disease.

“Sa Senate session bukas ng hapon, mag-pe-presenta ako ng isang medikal at makataong ‘Roadmap to Recovery’ bunga ng mga konsultasyon sa mga medical experts, public health specialists at mga batayang sektor,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

(During the Senate session tomorrow, I will present a medical roadmap to recovery which was garnered from consultations of medical experts, public health specialists, and other sectors.)

Aside from this, the senator said she will also discuss a “legislative package for economic recovery” amid the coronavirus disease pandemic.

“This will be our proposed alternative to the government’s militaristic response that is apparently ineffective in managing the pandemic,” Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros was not the first government official to propose improvements to the COVID-19 response. Last week, Vice President Leni Robredo also aired her suggestions on how to cope with the pandemic.

As of Sunday, a total of 103,185 COVID-19 infections has been reported with 5,032 record-high new cases. This includes 65,557 recoveries and  2,059 deaths.

‘Take a back seat’

Meanwhile, Hontiveros also said that the reimposition of the death penalty should “take a back seat” as the main focus must be on addressing the continued spread of the respiratory disease.

“Death penalty debates must take a back seat as we instead prioritize discussing ways of defeating and recovering from this pandemic. Focus dapat nating mabuhay ang tao, hindi ang pagpatay. (Let us focus on keeping people alive and not killing.),” Hontiveros said.

/MUF