Vice President Leni Robredo questioned the government’s proposal to place the entire country under the modified general community quarantine this March, despite the worrying developments in the health crisis—high transmission, no COVID-19 vaccines, and new strains in the Philippines.
In her weekly radio show, the vice president pressured the authorities to explain the basis of their recommendation to put the country in the most relaxed community quarantine level.
“Ang tanong ko lang ano iyong basis? Anong basis ng MGCQ? Wala namang problemang mag-MGCQ kung may basehan tayo doon. Pero pag tiningnan mo yung basehan, ‘yung numero ang taas pa ng transmission, wala pa yung bakuna,” she said.
Robredo also pointed out that the priority is controlling the transmission, especially with the delayed shipment of the coronavirus vaccines.
“Dapat sana lahat ng energies natin nandoon sa pagcontrol sa transmission, sa bakuna. Hindi sa kung anu-ano pa,” she said.
The OCTA Research group had issued a warning after the National Economic and Development Authority recommended to further reopen the economy. According to the researchers, lowering quarantine classifications may lead to COVID-19 infections surge up to 2,400 new cases per day. They also reminded the NEDA that no one, not even the medical frontliners, have received their vaccines against the virus yet.
