WHO data on Philippines’ COVID-19 situation may be wrong —Sotto

The World Health Organization's (WHO) data showing that the Philippines has the fastest growing number of COVID-19 cases in the Western Pacific region could be wrong, according to Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday.

"Eh baka hindi accurate ang nakakarating sa kanilang data eh. Di ba? This is not an incident that only happened now," Sotto said in a virtual interview.

"There were many instances in the past that the WHO statistical figures on the issue of illegal drugs, even when I was just Secretary of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) eh hindi accurate," he added.

Sotto was DDB chief from June 2008 to November 2009.

He said his earlier statement that "something is very wrong" refers to the WHO data as well.

"Something could be very wrong with the stats of the WHO 'di ba, and something could be wrong also on our health protocols and the way we are running it," he added.

The uncooperativeness of some Filipinos to the quarantine protocols can also be considered a significant factor, according to the Senate leader.

Recent WHO data showed that from June 16 to 28, the total number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the Philippines was 9,655. Singapore followed with 2,610 new cases.

The country's COVID-19 testing czar Vince Dizon claimed that the recent spike in the number of cases in the Central Visayas region, particularly in Cebu City, and the improved testing capacity in the country contributed to the WHO findings.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) said the socioeconomic context should also be considered in analyzing the WHO data.

The DOH pointed out that Singapore has a population of only 5.9 million, with a total number of cases of 43,246 and the Philippines has 109 million with 34,803 total cases, as of June 28.

“Singapore has a higher case at 7,393 cases per one million population compared with [the] Philippines at 318 cases per 1 million population,” it said.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines reached 36,438 after 985 new cases were recorded on Monday. — BM, GMA News