Malacañang Tuesday deflected the criticism against the government’s pandemic response while asserting that the current number of infections in the country is not yet alarming.
“Ano ba naman ang gusto ninyo pa? Alam ko po oposisyon kayo, pero sa panahon ng pandemya hindi po natin kinakailangan na pinupulitika (What more do you want? I know you are from the opposition but we do not need to engage in politicking during a pandemic),” Roque exclaimed during a press briefing.
This statement was a reaction to Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon who claimed that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) had failed to properly handle the pandemic, which has already infected more than 82,000 people in the country.
Roque dismissed concerns about the rising infections and assured the public by saying very few of the infected persons are considered severe cases.
He said fewer than 10% of infected persons are severe cases while the case mortality rate is only about two percent.
“Hindi naman po dapat ikabahala nang tuluyan itong numerong ito (This number should not alarm us),” the Palace spokesman said.
“While our total number of cases is already 80,000 more or less, the (number of deaths) is less than 2,000,” he added.
Despite his disagreement with the senator’s pronouncements, he thanked him nonetheless for supporting the passage of Bayanihan 2.
“We thank Sen. Drilon because he voted in favor of the (Bayanihan) We Heal as One Act. Nobody objected to that. Perhaps if he can think of other ways, after all that’s the job of lawmakers, to craft policy, we can look into that,” Roque said.
“If there are good ideas, we are open to that. We don’t turn a deaf ear to anyone. We listen to everyone including critics and we consider their views in the decision-making process,” he added.
