The office of Vice President Leni Robredo released a taped video of her addressing the public relative to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. In her address, VP Robredo only reiterated what the public already know about the difficulties our country is suffering from. What is glaringly apparent is she appears to be either completely ignorant or just partisan blind to the fact that her suggestions have long been undertaken and are continuously being done by the government. Other matters she raised are already being monitored or improved upon by government and various departments and instrumentalities.
As early as April, the Finance Department already reported that the government spent P352.7 billion in battling the pandemic. On June 24, the Department of Budget and Management came out with the report that the government disbursed P355 billion for its response to the health threat. VP Robredo urges the government to spend more and to spend quickly. Where was she when these figures were reported? Where was she last August 8 when Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said that, “[w]ithout continued and increased public-sector spending, especially on infrastructure, public health and social protection, the first-semester GDP would have shrunk by a total of 11.5 percent, 2.5 percentage points more than the actual 9 percent[?]”
Apropos the issue on contact-tracing, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, through Secretary Eduardo Año, has asked Congress two weeks ago to allocate P5 billion out of the P162 billion under the proposed Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, or Bayanihan 2, for the hiring and training of contact-tracers, acting on the recommendations of Baguio City Mayor and Contact Tracing Czar Benjamin Magalong of a 1:37 patient to close contacts ratio, aside from the fact that as of mid-July, the government’s contact tracing capability has already reached 98.2 percent by organizing 5,126 contact-tracing teams with 67,683 members. Where was VP Robredo when these developments were being reported? Doesn’t she read the newspapers?
For mass testing, the Department of Health announced that that the Philippines already has a rated testing capacity of 50,000 by mid-June. Presently, the Philippines has the second-highest number of tests conducted in Asia with nearly 1.4 million tests made as of July 26. It is at the top spot when it comes to Covid-19 testing capacity in the entire Southeast Asian region. Given that VP Robredo suggests to improve our data collection relative to positive cases, where was she when the Department of Health reported to the nation a few days ago that it is now reporting Covid-19 cases, recoveries and deaths in real-time? It appears that VP Robredo also missed the news last week when World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative to the Philippines Rabindra Abeyasinghe acknowledged our expansion of our testing capacity. Surely, she was inattentive too last August 19 when WHO-Western Pacific Regional Director Takeshi Kasai lauded the Philippines’ efforts in improving its health care capacity and curbing the spread of the Covid-19.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development already has a cash-for-work program while the Department of Labor and Employment has implemented TUPAD or Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers. VP Robredo’s suggestion on this matter is late. We are already looking forward to Bayanihan 2 which aims to provide P15 billion for the cash-for-work program of the DSWD and TUPAD of the DOLE.
As regards businesses, the Department of Trade and Industry has several programs in place to help them, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), during this pandemic, such as Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) Enterprise Rehabilitation Fund, Covid-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES), Livelihood Seeding Program-Negosyo, Serbisyo sa Barangay (LSP-NSB), among others. The Department of Tourism has also recently launched the Philippine Harvest e-commerce site where online shoppers can enjoy local quality-sealed fresh and processed food selections, and other essentials all under one platform.
Vis-à-vis our workers in the agriculture sector, Secretary William Dar of the Department of Agriculture is doing an excellent job in protecting the industry as it even managed to grow by 1.6 percent despite the halt in major economic activities in Metro Manila, Luzon and other parts of the country. The President even acknowledged the importance of protecting this sector during his State of the Nation Address when he said that this would be the most strategic one for economic recovery as he introduced the Plant, Plant, Plant program that would enable us achieve tangible results in our fight against the pandemic.
For our returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), they may avail of the different programs of the DOLE like the National Reintegration Center for OFWs. As of July, the government has extended financial assistance to over 110,000 OFWs abroad, while as of the first week of August, to more than 124,000 repatriated OFWs who were affected by the present pandemic. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has even assisted our OFWs as it launched a project entitled iFWD PH: Innovations for Filipinos Working Distantly from the Philippines last May to provide assistance in establishing alternative livelihood projects in their provinces.
Given that her suggestions have either already been done or are work in progress, it is crystal clear that VP Robredo is trying to undermine the efforts of the government in managing the crisis. She appears to have mastered the art of appearing politically relevant while exhibiting her pretended concern, and succeeding to mislead her supporters and the gullible.
Theatrical pretenses are good for the stage and not the real world. Even in times of pandemic despite their sufferance, Filipinos can see through such farce even if it momentarily amuses them.
VP Robredo, if she is so minded to help in these critical times, should lead the opposition as well as the critics and detractors, to appeal to the nation and to persuade the citizenry to consciously and conscientiously observe the minimum health requirements of wearing face masks, face shields, frequent washing of the hands with soap and maintaining the two meter social distancing, that we may succeed to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
She and the rest of the opposition, as well as those unthinking critics, have failed in this simple and paramountly important call and appeal to the people.
