Makabayan bloc on poll showing Pinoys not in favor of gov't COVID-19 response: Hindi kataka-taka

Members of the Makabayan bloc are no longer surprised with the result of a recent survey stating that most Filipinos were not in favor of how the national government has addressed the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a virtual press briefing Thursday, ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro pointed out that the present administration chose to implement militaristic rules in facing the health crisis instead of imposing medical solutions.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, the government should have an intensified mass testing and contact tracing instead of lockdowns, Castro said.

"Hindi kataka-taka itong sagot ng ating mamamayan kaugnay ng kanilang approval o disapproval sa health response na ginagawa ngayon ng gobyerno ni President Duterte," Castro said.

"Unang-una na naming ni-raise, 'di ba, sa pagke-create pa lang ng composition noong tinatawag na national task force o 'yung IATF para sugpuin ang COVID-19, ang karamihan sa mga composition nito ay military. Kaya ang solusyon na ginamit dito ay militaristic," she added.

Retired military general Carlito Galvez Jr has been named chief implementer of the National Policy Against COVID-19. Aside from that, he was also the country's designated "vaccine czar."

A survey conducted by Singapore-based ASEAN Studies Centre showed that 53.7% of its Philippine respondents were not in favor of the Duterte administration’s response to combat the pandemic.

The 53.7% consists of 17.9% who said they "strongly disapproved" and 35.8% who said they "disapproved" of how the government is handling the pandemic.

Meanwhile, 20.9% were neutral on the topic, while 19.4% "approved."

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Ferdinand Gaite, for his part, said the government's response only resulted in economic fallout. He claimed that the assistance provided by the administration to various sectors were not felt.

"Hindi na kataka-taka dahil sabi nga natin the fruit of the pudding is in the eating, bagsak ang ating ekonomiya... maraming walang trabaho, mataas ang presyo ng bilihin. Halos walang naramdaman na ayuda, hindi lamang sa maralita, sa manggagawa, sa magsasaka... actually pati mga negosyante ay nagrereklamo, lalo na ang ating MSMEs" Gaite said.

Gaite said the survey is the true reflection of the failed response of the government against COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, Kabayaan party-list Representative Sarah Elago said the government had been dependent on lockdowns instead of addressing the real problem.

"Nanatiling nakaasa doon sa pinahabang lockdown, isa sa pinakamahaba sa buong mundo kaya kita natin 'yung tindi ng epekto niyan sa ekonomiya, kawalan ng trabaho at pinakamalala pa 'yung pinatagal na kalamidad dahil sa failure ng pandemic response at incompetence sa pamumuno sa atin sa gitna ng public health emergency," Elago said.

The results of the survey indicated that most Filipinos believed there is a need to encourage more scientists and medical doctors to "contribute to public policy discussions" and for the government to "heed their advice" in addressing the pandemic.

So far, the Philippines has recorded 541,560 COVID-19 infections, with 499,971 recoveries and 11,401 fatalities. —KBK, GMA News