Vice President Leni Robredo told President Rodrigo Duterte’s government to drop the propaganda and focus on fixing its pandemic response after the Philippine economy suffered its worst post-war slump.

The Vice President said on Sunday, January 31, that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) falling by 9.5% in 2020 is concrete proof that the Duterte administration is still not doing enough to offset the effects of the coronavirus crisis. 

“So sa akin, dapat sana ‘yung response, ‘wag na tayo sa propaganda. ‘Yung response dapat tinutugunan papaano mare-resolve nang mas maaga. Kasi kapag mas matagal ‘yung ganito, mas marami tayong mga kababayan na maghihirap,” Robredo said in her radio show Biserbisyong Leni with broadcaster Ely Saludar. 

(So for me, enough with the propaganda. The response should be about resolving this as early as possible. Because the longer we are in this situation, more of our countrymen will suffer.)

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Robredo also said the GDP slump is “alarming” since other Asian countries’ economies have fared better despite suffering through the pandemic as well. 

“Again, may comparative, may comparative sa Asia, sa mga bansa sa Asia. Ang nakaka-alarm dito, Ka Ely, tayo ‘yung prediction, tayo ‘yung pinakahuling makaka-recover dahil sa quality ng ating pandemic response,” said the Vice President. 

(Again, there’s comparative data in other countries in Asia. What’s alarming here, Ka Ely, is that we are predicted to be the last to recover because of the quality of our pandemic response.)

The Duterte government has long been criticized for mismanaging the COVID-19 crisis, which has seen businesses closing down and cases of infection steadily going up despite quarantine restrictions. 

Robredo, however, earlier said the Philippines is still capable of beating the COVID-19 like its Asia-Pacific neighbors if the government acts fast and anchors its response on data. 

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Most countries in Southeast Asia have yet to announce full-year GDP figures, but some nations like Vietnam have resisted the global downturn, while Singapore posted better-than-expected numbers.

The Philippine economy’s recovery has so far been slow because strong tropical cyclones in October and November wiped out gains in agriculture, which in turn pulled down GDP and pushed inflation up. 

These offset the effects of further easing of lockdown restrictions amid continuous rising cases, increased spending during the holidays, and the seasonal uptick in remittances from Filipinos abroad.

But while figures were grim in 2020 for the Philippines, acting chief state economist Karl Chua noted that “prospects for 2021 are encouraging.” 

“We see no reason why the economy cannot bounce back once community quarantines are further relaxed. The halving of the unemployment and hunger rates from record highs as we gradually relaxed the quarantine in the 2nd semester of 2020 shows that economic potential remains, and only held back by excessive risk aversion,” Chua said. – with reports from Ralf Rivas/Rappler