Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III chided Filipinos for criticizing the recent surge in coronavirus cases, saying the government alone cannot be blamed for mismanaging the crisis since the public also became lax in following protocols. 

Speaking to reporters on Monday, March 22, Sotto attributed the unprecedented rise in COVID-19 cases to a “combination” of the “incompetence” of the Department of Health (DOH) and Filipinos who disregard the rules. 

The Senate President slammed the public in particular for airing out their complaints against the badly mismanaged pandemic response. 

“This is war. It’s a war against COVID-19. ‘Pag giyera, meron bang umaangal na wala silang makain? Umaangal ka ba? Titiisin mo lahat ‘yan eh,” Sotto said in an interview via Zoom.

(In wartime, do people complain that they have nothing to eat? Would you whine about it? You’d have to endure all of that.)

“Susunod ka sa kung anumang usapan eh. Lahat ng reklamo natin, hindi reklamo ng nasa giyera eh. Masyado tayong comfortable,” added Sotto.

(You’d just need to do whatever you were told. All our whining – it’s not what people in wartime would complain about. We’re too comfortable.)

The Senate President made the statement on the same day the Philippines logged 8,019 new cases of COVID-19, a record-high single-day tally since the pandemic first hit the country last year. Total infections as of Monday is now over 671,000 cases. 

With the spike in cases, President Rodrigo Duterte’s government enforced stricter quarantine measures  – or what is essentially a hybrid of general community quarantine and modified enhance community quarantine rules – within the new “bubble” composed of Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna. 

‘Gross incompetence’ of DOH

Still, Sotto conceded that if the authorities had focused their efforts on treating COVID-19 in the first place, then cases would not have shot up into the thousands a year later.

He slammed the DOH in particular for its “gross incompetence” in heading the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, the policy-making body composed of Cabinet officials helming the country’s fight against the pandemic. 

Sotto backed the earlier call of Senator Imee Marcos to abolish the IATF.

“I concur with that. As matter of fact, they should’ve done that since Day 1, especially when we were complaining, around June, that there’s a gross incompetence in the handling as far as the Department of Health is concerned on that particular issue,” said Sotto.

Senators have long wanted DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III to resign over his “failed” response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite mounting criticisms, Duque continues to enjoy the trust and confidence of Duterte himself. – Rappler.com