Vice President ‘playing deaf’ on COVID-19 reporting – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday accused Vice President Leni Robredo of “playing blind and deaf” to its reporting of updates on the COVID-19 pandemic and urged her to suggest things that the administration is not yet doing.

In her radio program last Sunday, Robredo said the government should just conduct a periodic assessment of the pandemic instead of extending the declaration of a nationwide state of calamity until September 2021.

She said the extension could stoke fears among the public as it creates the impression that the Philippines would remain in an emergency situation until next year.

“Again, she is playing blind and deaf to the fact that there is periodic reporting,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said when asked to react to the Vice President’s statement.

“All you have to do is go to the webpage of the DOH (Department of Health), all she has to do is consult the regular reports being submitted by the President to Congress pursuant to the Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2 laws,” he added.

“Thank you very much for the suggestions, madam Vice President, but it is being done. We look forward to a suggestion on something that the government has not done.”

Last week, Malacañang said it does not expect Robredo to say something positive about the administration’s efforts to contain COVID-19 since she is the leader of the opposition.

Robredo has criticized the Duterte administration for supposedly being complacent on the pandemic and for its alleged failure to come up with a cohesive plan to address the health crisis.

The Vice President has also urged the administration to conduct more COVID-19 tests, saying the testing of 30,000 people per day is no longer enough.