“Something is very wrong. I think it’s the delay in actions and responses. That includes contact tracing and aggressive research on medications.”
This was Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s manifestation regarding the recent spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country. Data from the World Health Organization showed that in nearly two weeks, the Philippines had the fastest rise in COVID-19 cases in the Western Pacific region.
While the Philippines ranked third behind China and Singapore in terms of number of cases, the Philippines, however, added almost 10,000 new cases in just 2 weeks from June 14 to June 28.
Several senators also expressed their concern over this development.
“We reopened the economy drastically, even for the non-essential sectors like POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations). We did not prohibit malls from extending their operating hours. We terminated social assistance, sent people back to work even without sufficient modes of public transportation,” Senator Joel Villanueva said.
Senator Francis Pangilinan said WHO data showed that the Philippines had “the worst pandemic response.”
“This should be embarrassing to our neighbors, but it is more embarrassing to our fellow countrymen, to the doctors, nurses, and medical technologists, and to all who have sacrificed and are sacrificing their lives to fight this disease. To all who have complied and are complying with the various and oftentimes confusing guidelines, like work resumption but without public transport,” Pangilinan said in a statement.
