Alvarez: Government pandemic response ‘a failure’

MANILA, Philippines — Former speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has openly declared that the government’s pandemic response “is a failure.”

In his local radio program in Davao del Norte, Alvarez also says he prefers the country’s next President to be not just a man of courage, but more importantly with “brains.” He did not name anyone he might have in mind.

“Una, kining kinahanglan mupili ta Presidente nga kahibalo muhandle imong Covid-19. Kanang Presidente nga utok (sabay tukdo sa kukute), utok, di lang paisog-isog,” the ousted former House leader said – without naming names – in his program “CPDA Aksyon Agad!”

CPDA stands for congressman Pantaleon D. Alvarez. The program was aired Aug. 28.

Alvarez and President Duterte – both lawyers by profession – are long-time friends.

But their friendship was seen to suffer cracks after Alvarez was ousted as House speaker in July 2018, in a “coup” widely attributed to Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. He was replaced by former president and then Pampanga congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, another Duterte ally.

Alvarez – a senior Mindanao lawmaker – sits as secretary-general of ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), of which Duterte is the titular head.

In the same radio show, Alvarez took a swipe at how the government is addressing the pandemic.

“Let’s admit it. The handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the entire Philippines is a failure. So there’s a problem, something is wrong in handling the problem,” he related, citing the continued spike in the number of COVID-19 infections in the country.

“It is not yet clear when this COVID-19 will end and there is no medicine yet. This will cross over to the next administration, that’s why we need to choose a president who is knowledgeable,” Alvarez declared.

He also cited the recession. “Another problem is the economy. The people are unemployed, businesses have closed down and OFWs are coming home jobless. The President must know how to revive these businesses.”

Alvarez also tackled the country’s maritime dispute with China.

“There are about 200 American battleships in the Pacific. We will be caught in this conflict because we are near China. The President must be capable of handling the situation. He must have balls. The President must have a clear stance,” he said, again without naming names.