COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Sotto tells gov’t: Listen to health experts, crisis managers

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday called on government officials to listen to health experts and crisis managers in addressing the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country.

Sotto made the remark as Metro Manila and the surrounding provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna returned to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) starting Monday until Sunday, April 4.

“The government needs to come up with more elevated and effective response programs to address the pandemic, not band-aid solutions that have so far failed to plug the rising number of infections in the country," Sotto said in a statement.

“There is nothing wrong if the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) will be aided or led by crisis managers and health experts,” he added.

Sotto lamented that logical stop-gap measures proposed by health experts are being brushed off as “impractical” or even “ridiculous” by what he described as the “inner circle” in-charge of coming up with policies and strategies to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These people in the inner circle have been sitting in their high chairs for more than a year now. Their voices dominate discussions on how to address the COVID-19 crisis, and they boom louder when their strategies are criticized,” he said.

“Mas maganda sana na pakinggan din ng ating pamahalaan ang kanilang mga sinasabi. Wala namang masama kung magkakaroon ang gobyerno ng maraming choices. Isantabi na sana muna nila ang kanilang mga pride at isipin ang makabubuti sa sambayanan,” he added.

(It would be better if the government would listen to health experts. There's nothing wrong if the government will have many choices. They should set aside their pride for now and consider what’s best for the public.)

Sotto earlier concurred with the proposal of Senator Imee Marcos to abolish the current IATF to make way for a true “medical, science-based” approach in responding to the health crisis.

“I concur with that, as a matter of fact they should have done that on day one especially when we were already complaining around June,” he said.

Poe: Respect people’s rights

For her part, Senator Grace Poe said that while health protocols must be effectively enforced amid the reimposition of ECQ, the rights of the Filipino people must be respected.

“We seek timely and sufficient cash aid and other assistance to needy families, so they won't be forced to go out of their homes to find food and basic needs. We call for adequate transportation for workers who need to be on site and coordinated policies to ensure the unimpeded flow of goods,” Poe said in a separate statement.

“If this lockdown is a necessary replay of the past, we hope for a better ending this time, one that will bring us closer to overcoming this pandemic,” she added. — RSJ, GMA News