Duterte calls on Filipinos to care for each other amid ‘troubled time’

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged Filipinos’ cooperation to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the government could not do it alone.

Speaking at the Batasang Pambansa for his fifth State of the Nation Address, Duterte asked Filipinos to work with the government in fighting the pandemic “with the same fervor as our campaign against illegal drugs, criminality, insurgency, corruption in high places and entrenched parochial interests.”

“We live in a troubled time. Our dream of prosperity for our country was suddenly snuffed by a pandemic virulent virus. No nation was spared. Neither rich nor poor were exempt from the onslaught of this deadly disease,” he said.

“I do hope that the spirit of solidarity and unity will serve as a drumbeat to which we shall march in unison in our quest for the light at the end of the tunnel. Let us take care of one another. Ito ang panahon para magtulungan, hindi panahon para maglamangan.”

Duterte’s plea comes as the Philippines’ COVID-19 cases continue to climb as the government eased movement restrictions to revitalize the pandemic-hit economy, which could slip into recession this year.

“We will not gamble with the lives and health of the people. Certainly, no one would want to end up in the negative side of the equation—not me, not us,” he said. —LDF, GMA News