STATEMENT OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

From mañanitas to skipping health protocols all while threatening to arrest the public for protocol violations, these have been 365 days of hypocrisy from some of our highest officials.

Instead of rolling out aggressive health-based approaches, the government responded through undeserving promotions, pats-on-the-back and premature celebrations. The consequence of this is that we now face 5,000 cases daily, almost 13,000 deaths, an increasing debt of USD14 Billion and only .1% of the whole population vaccinated.

Amid this surge, the public has yet to receive an answer to the question we have been asking since Bayanihan 1: Saan napupunta ang pera? Nasaan ang USD14.24 billion o PHP 690.5 billion na inutang ng Pilipinas para tugunan ang pandemya? Pinasa at in-extend na ang Bayanihan 2, pero hindi pa nga natatanggap ng mga health workers ang allowance at benefits nila, at kulang na kulang pa ang distribusyon ng SAP Round 2. Sampal sa mukha ng taumbayan ang pagsirit muli ng mga kaso ng COVID-19 habang may PHP690 billion silang dapat bayaran na tatagal hanggang sa mga susunod na henerasyon. Nakapanlulumo lang na sa dami ng mga loans, hindi natin nagawang i-flatten ang curve.

IATF continues to use silly and ineffective band-aid solutions as a smokescreen for the fact that the real systematic response has still not yet been made. We are scrambling to control the pandemic again, but ignore the fact that there are no real systems in place for free mass testing, no unified contact tracing system and therefore no chance to mass isolate.

Again, we must go back to the basics of test, trace and isolate. We cannot let COVID-19 cases spread like wildfire while we put all our hopes on a vaccination program that is being carried out at snail's pace. We have only vaccinated around 5.9% of all healthcare workers since we started 2 weeks ago. Barely the tip of the iceberg. I will deliver a privilege speech at the Senate this afternoon on the heartbreaking situation we face on the COVID-19 lockdown anniversary. Instead of prematurely looking back at how far we've come, we should reflect hard on how far we still have to go. Hindi tayo handa para sa 8,000 to 12,000 daily cases na pino-project ng OCTA Research sa Abril. Nakakatakot isipin kung gaano din tataas ang mga kaso ng namamatay. If we do not learn now, many more will die. If we let this pandemic inflict more wounds, it might take more decades for the Filipino people to recover.

Huwag nating sayangin ang pag-asang dinadala ng mga bakuna.