Malacañang on Monday denied covering up the country’s muddled state with a propaganda campaign as alleged by Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.
Palace spokesman Harry claimed that the government only uses data on pandemic response obtained from the World Health Organization.
“Sasagutin ko kayo sa sinabi ninyo na dapat itigil ang propaganda and focus on fixing the pandemic response. Ma’am, hindi po propaganda ang [WHO],” he said in a media briefing.
“Ito po ang katotohanan, bakit namin paniniwalaan ang ibang pag-aaral eh samantalang lahat tayo ay nagtitiwala sa [WHO] sa panahon ng pandemya. Hindi po propaganda iyan – katotohanan! Buksan ang mata, buksan ang tenga,” he added.
Robredo on Sunday said the government was always using the pandemic as an excuse for its poor response.
“Sasabihin natin, ‘dahil may pandemic.’ Totoo. Worst ito dahil may pandemic. Pero pagpapakita din ito ng quality ng response natin. Kasi iyong mga katabi nating bansa, may pandemya din sa kanila eh. Lahat naman tayo tinamaan ng pandemya, pero bakit sila mas maayos kaysa sa atin,” she said in her radio show.
Robredo made the statement in response to a report by Lowy Institute, which ranked the Philippines 79th out of 98 countries in pandemic response with a 30.6 out of 100 score.
Roque said it was unfair for Robredo to refer to what he claimed were results produced by the country’s frontliners as propaganda.
“Katotohanan na dapat tanggapin at pasalamatan po lahat ng ating mga medical frontliners na talaga naman pong ginagawa ang lahat para pangalagaan ang kalusugan ng mga Pilipino. It is unfair to refer to their work output as propaganda; huwag naman po,” he said.
The country’s gross domestic product plunged to a record-low -8.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The Philippines has recorded 527,272 Covid-19 cases as of Feb. 1. John Ezekiel J. Hirro