Robredo releases list of suggestions for gov't COVID-19 response

Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday published the suggestions she sent to Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque on how to improve the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In her weekly radio show, Robredo said she sent the letter to Roque on June 30 after the spokesman said they were open to suggestions on how to address the coronavirus threat.

“So ako, in good faith, nagpadala ako ng suggestions. Hindi ko nga ito in-announce. Parang first time ko nabanggit noong Sunday kasi related siya sa isang issue. Mahaba iyong sulat, eight pages ito,” she said.

“Pero, iyong sinabi niya (Roque) lang na ginagawa na, inisa-isa ko ulit. Binalikan ko iyong sulat, inisa-isa ko… Pinagawan ko ito ng summary kasi gusto ko lang makita alin ba iyong ginagawa na, alin iyong hindi pa,” Robredo added.

The Vice President noted that among her many suggestions, only the elimination of “fresh” and “late” cases in the Department of Health’s reporting of new COVID-19 cases had so far been implemented.

Roque earlier thanked Robredo for her suggestions but said she offered “nothing new.”

The following were the OVP’s suggestions:

On public health data

• Do away with reporting fresh and late cases; plot and publish an epidemic curve.
• Why have we not reached our target number of daily tests until now - 30,000 tests per day by May 31, 2020?
• Discrepancies in data: What causes them? How are we resolving this?
• What is the total budget devoted to buying testing kits? How much is each testing kit procured, and who are the suppliers?
• Did we reach our May target of hiring 136,000 contact tracers? How many contact tracers have been hired? Where are they located?

Updates on the status of programs with

• the target number of beneficiaries

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• the actual number of beneficiaries reached
• the target amount disbursed to target beneficiaries
• the actual amount disbursed to households

On transportation concerns

• Shift to a service contracting system of PUVs
• Adopt contactless payments for PUVs
• Create more connections to bus stops in EDSA
• Install bike lanes
• Find creative ways for PUVs to adhere to social distancing principles and allow all PUVs to operate
• Create programs to lessen the burden on operators for PUJ modernization
• Publish and effectively communicate guidelines for LSIS

On reporting and keeping the public informed, continue issuing weekly reports to the public, even if the Bayanihan Act has already expired. The report should contain:

• Summary on what transpired during the previous week, highlighting gains, targets met, and targets missed (programs and indicators, actual number of beneficiaries reached, target number of beneficiaries, actual amount released, target amount to be released and target budget, implementing agencies)
• Targets for the coming week
• Key targets for succeeding weeks and how these all fit into an overall plan

— DVM, GMA News