Former Senator and current Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero joins the growing voices in calling out the government’s non-stellar performance in pandemic response.
In a tweet, Escudero compared the Philippines’ surge of COVID-19 case to our neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.
According to Chiz, the Philippines’ 1 day total exceeded the total new cases of all Southeast Asian countries. He then chided the government.
Yesterday, the Philippines exceeded the combined total number of new cases in the whole of Southeast Asia (SEA). Today, was even worst… Faced with the same variants & lockdown fatigue, our neighbors in SEA must be doing something right that we arent… pic.twitter.com/etab2MQfdx
— Chiz Escudero (@SayChiz) March 26, 2021
In his succeeding tweet, Escudero seemingly threw shade on some government officials when he said that our neighboring countries are doing far better and “excellent” jobs.
They are clearly doing a far better & “excellent” job than we are. The first step in solving a problem is admitting that we have one… a big one! We dont have to re-invent the wheel so to speak… Lets ask, watch, study & learn from others so we can do a truly better job!!!
— Chiz Escudero (@SayChiz) March 26, 2021
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has been claiming the government’s response to the pandemic is still excellent.
In one of his media briefings, Roque insisted that the Duterte administration has done an excellent job in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were excellent, nakontrol po natin ang pagkalat ng sakit,” said Roque
Chiz also added that the first and biggest factor in solving our country’s COVID problem is to acknowledge that there is a problem in how our government is addressing it.
“The first step in solving a problem is admitting that we have one… a big one! We don’t have to re-invent the wheel so to speak… Let’s ask, watch, study & learn from others so we can do a truly better job!!!” Escudero wrote.
However, it seemed the government is clueless on the core problem as Health Secretary Francisco Duque in his recent statement was surprised by the surge in COVID-19 cases. Duque said they did not expect the surge despite several calls from the netizens and health experts.
“Hindi naman natin alam na papalo ng ganito kataas. So we have to make the adjustments,” Duque said.
“Mas maraming nagkakahawaan. Ngayon na tumaas. O, para muna tayo. Ganu’n talaga, e. We have to bounce. Parang cha-cha-cha ka e. ‘Di ba, ‘di ba? One step back, two steps forward.”
Duque instead resorted to propaganda by going house to house to distribute masks and face shields.
