Palace asks medical frontliners: Why was Duterte the last to know about demands?

Malacañang on Monday asked medical frontliners why President Rodrigo Duterte was the “last to know” about their demands in connection with the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The President on Sunday night scored healthcare workers, saying they could have submitted a letter or requested for a dialogue on their plea for a temporary return to an enhanced community quarantine for Metro Manila instead of making a public statement the day before.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque said the letter of the medical groups reached the President around 4 p.m. Saturday, hours after the representatives of healthcare workers held an online press conference to air their plea.

“Ang pinanggagalingan ng Presidente, una, bagamat binigay po niya ang ninanais ng ating mga frontliner, nagtataka siya, bakit he was the last to know about the demand,” Roque said in a radio interview.

“Yung liham mismo kay Presidente the day before, kalat na at tsaka bago pa dumating kay Presidente. So ‘yun po ang pinanggagalingan ni Presidente. Hindi niya maintindihan. Ano ba ito?…Parang naging may aspeto na parang protesta na nga na wala ka ng choice kundi sumunod sa gusto namin na hindi naman dapat.”

He said the medical frontliners should have given the President the chance to address their concerns before making a public statement.

“Malinaw po ang sinabi ng Presidente, hindi naman kinakailangan na magkaroon ng splash,” Roque said in his regular press briefing.

“Kumbaga, sana binigyan naman siya ng pagkakataon na sagutin iyong liham bago sila nagkaroon ng publicity dahil ang naobserbahan natin, talagang nauna pa iyong webinar bago doon sa pagtanggap ng liham ng Presidente.”

‘Revolution’

Roque also explained that Duterte’s remark that challenged medical workers to stage a “revolution” against his government was a reaction to the release of the Filipino version of “Do You Hear the People Sing,” a song from the musical Les Misérables, which was played in anti-government protests.

“Talaga naman ang mga kritiko ng gobyerno pagsasamantalahan itong pandemya,” Roque said. “Sabi lang niya, naku sige na fast forward na natin. Gusto n’yo talaga n’yan, gusto ninyong palitan ako, gusto n’yong mag-rebolusyon, ngayon na.”

Philippine College of Physicians president Dr. Mario Panaligan denied on Monday that they were calling for a revolution.

“Sa amin kasi 'yun talagang panawagan para makapag-usap kami. Magkaroon ng panahon para makapagplano at makita ang mga problema na dapat pagtuunan ng pansin,” Panaligan said in an interview on GMA Network’s Unang Hirit.

Duterte on Sunday approved the Cabinet’s recommendation to reimpose the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila following the appeal of exhausted medical frontliners for stricter lockdown to "recalibrate strategies" against COVID-19.

Aside from Metro Manila, the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal will be under MECQ from August 4 to August 18. — RSJ, GMA News