Duque says Philippines' rise in Nikkei ranking due to compliance with health protocols, vax rollout

For Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the rise of the Philippines in Nikkei Asia’s COVID-19 recovery rankings can be attributed to good compliance with minimum public health standards and the country’s vaccination rollout.

“So ito ang mga dahilan [so these are the reasons]: Good compliance with minimum public health standards in general and the masking in particular, and good vaccine rollout,” Duque said in an interview on ANC.

He stressed that the country has fully vaccinated 77% of its 90 million target.

As of June 4, data from the Department of Health showed that more than 71 million Filipinos have been fully inoculated against COVID-19 while 67 million have received at least one dose.

However, only over 14.2 million individuals have received their booster shots.

“And then, of course, our loosening up a great deal of our social mobility restrictions. In fact majority of our regions if not all with some still already in the Alert Level 1,” Duque said.

“In fact, the alert leveling system, I think, is the best practice that the Philippines can showcase. Alert Level 1, wala na tayong widespread community lockdowns,” he added.

The Philippines remains at a low-risk classification despite detecting an increase in cases in all regions except Region 10 and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

'Marathon, not a sprint'

According to Duque, the fight against COVID-19 is a “marathon” and not a “sprint.”

“And so… this is a marathon. ‘Yung mga iba kala sprint, eh [some believe it to be a sprint]. Pabilisan [a race], you know, ganon. But we steadily orchestrated the national government's pandemic response in cooperation with the local government units and also… private sector,” he said.

This was echoed by infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana.

During the day's Laging Handa briefing, Salvana said the government prioritized the lives of the public, later adding that they believe the plan is more sustainable.

“‘Yung response talaga natin is a marathon. It’s not a sprint. Early on and prinaoritize natin is really save lives. ‘Yung rankings na ito, ‘yung Bloomberg at ‘yung Nikkei, ang primary purpose ng ranking nila is economic activity,” he said.

(Our response is a marathon. It’s not a sprint. Early on we prioritized the saving of lives. These rankings, the Bloomberg and Nikkei rankings, their primary purpose is for economic activity.)

“But, you know, at the very start, all the scientists have been saying, if we take care of life, if we take care of health, economy will follow,” he added.

(But, you know, at the very start, all the scientists have been saying, if we take care of life, we take care of health, the economy will follow. You can’t put economy before the lives because if establishments close down because of COVID, your economy will also fall.)

In a separate statement, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the latest Nikkei COVID-19 Recovery Index “reaffirms the effective recalibration of strategies of the Philippines in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Such calibration, Andanar said, included the shift to Alert Level System, opening of the country’s borders while strictly adhering to minimum public health standards and ramping up COVID-19 vaccination efforts, including the administration of boosters.

“We hope this trend would continue as we remain vigilant with the emergence of new variants while vigorously pursuing the economy’s full recovery,” Andanar added. —KBK/RSJ, GMA News