By Deighton Acuin

PHOTO: Manila Bulletin

Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday that Filipinos don’t deserve rude government officials as she called the reply from Malacañang to her criticism of coronavirus response as another propaganda.

In her weekly radio show, Robredo agreed that some officials are ganging up on her and they counld not accept lapses in government’s pandemic actions.

“Lagi naman. Lagi naman. Kaya tayo nagkakaganito eh, kasi walang acceptance ng kakulangan. Pero sa akin lang, kung kailangang magdepensa, magdepensa, pero ‘yung klase ng pagdedepensa, parang ‘yung nakakalungkot, kasi ito na ba ‘yung klase ng public servants natin?” Robredo said.

“Para sa akin, hindi naman natin dine-deserve na ‘yung mga public servants natin mga bastos, hindi natin dine-deserve na ubod ng yabang,” Robredo added.

Robredo pointed out some officials who speak before Filipinos even say “unnecessary” remarks.

She also reiterated her criticisms are based on statistics and available data.

Robredo earlier called on the Duterte administration to stop pushing for a propaganda and instead focus on fixing efforts on addressing the Covid-19 pandemic.

This, however, did not sit well with Roque, who responded by saying that the Philippines actually ranked 32nd among countries worldwide in terms of total Covid-19 case count, 45th in terms of the number of active cases, 134th in terms of Covid-19 cases per one million population, and 72nd in terms of case fatality rate.

Roque added it is unfair to call the works of the country’s medical personnel as propaganda.

But Robredo said that Roque’s remarks is propaganda itself. She also denied blaming the medical workers.

“Pati ‘yung pag-respond sa aking puna ay propaganda pa din. Isipin mo, parang pinapalabas nila bine-blame ko daw ‘yung ating health workers. Baligtad iyon,” the Vice President added.

She then urged administration officials to open their eyes and look for solutions to improve actions on addressing the pandemic.

“Ayaw kong patulan, pero ano ba naman iyan?” she said. “’Yung lahat na datos, nandiyan. Buksan lang ‘yung mata. Buksan lang ‘yung mata, na hanapan ito ng solusyon.”

The Philippines ranked 79th place out of 98 countries that were rated for their performance in the Covid-19 pandemic response, according to a study by Australian think-tank Australian think-tank Lowy Institute published last January. The Department of Health, however, said it is unfair to compare the pandemic response of the Philippines with other countries, citing different healthcare systems.

Last Friday, Roque also bragged about the Duterte administration’s accomplishments in the infrastructure industry and “beating Covid-19,” among others, telling critics of the President: “Manigas kayong lahat!”


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