Hontiveros reminds Roque: ‘Hala, COVID-19 ang kalaban, hindi UP’

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday rained on presidential spokesperson Harry Roque's parade as she pointed out that the Philippines is battling COVID-19, not the University of the Philippines' projection on the rise of infections.

This was after Roque congratulated the public for "beating" UP as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country fell short of the forecast 40,000 confirmed cases by the end of June.

As of June 29, there are 36,438 reported cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines.

"Panalo na tayo. We beat the UP prediction po. We beat it, so congratulations Philippines. Let’s do it again in July. We are winning," Roque said in a televised briefing.

"Hala. COVID-19 ang kalaban, hindi UP," Hontiveros said in response via Twitter.

In an earlier social media post, the opposition senator said that the country cannot win the battle against COVID-19 if it will not recognize the reality.

"Hindi natin matatalo ang COVID-19 kung hindi tayo honest sa mga sarili natin," Hontiveros said.

"Paano tayo ‘winning’ kung may mahigit tayong 36K coronavirus cases, 7.3 milyong Pilipino ang walang trabaho,at kulang sa proteksyon at suporta ang mga doktor at health workers?" she added.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III, meanwhile, recognized that the victory over COVID-19 can only be seen in selected areas in the country for now.

"Perhaps, in selective areas, we are indeed winning the war, that’s true, but there are areas that we are not, we are not successful yet. Hopefully, we will get there," he said.

Last week, the Department of Health identified several areas in the Visayas as “emerging hotspots” of COVID-19. — BM, GMA News