PRIVILEGE SPEECH OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS
BEWARE, THE IDES OF MARCH

Isang magandang hapon sa ating lahat. Mr. President, I rise on a point of personal and collective privilege.

"Beware, the Ides of March." Yan ang pamagat ng sikat na play ni Shakespeare tungkol sa assassination kay Julius Caesar. Mula noong maipalabas ang play na yan sa publiko noong 1500's, babala at pagbabantay ang kakabit ng pagpatak ng araw na ito.

Ngunit bago pa man ang pagkamatay ni Julius Caesar, ang March 15 mismo ay kilala noong panahon ng mga Romano bilang araw ng pagbabayad ng mga utang. Samakatuwid, alinsunod sa tradisyon, ito ay araw ng paniningil. Yan po ang nais kong gawin sa pagkakataong ito.

Simulan natin sa pagre-rewind ng mga pangunahing kaganapan mula 2020. Mag-time travel tayo nang kaunti. Nang pirmahan ni presidente ang Proclamation No. 922 noong Marso, na syang nagde-declare ng State of Public Health Emergency sa bansa, ang mga kaso ng Covid-19 ay 24. Dalawang dosena. Nabibilang pa sa pinaka-payak na matematika at kayang-kaya pang habulin kung maayos sana ang programa ng pagta-track and trace. More than a week later, the President signed Proclamation 929 declaring a state of calamity in the entire country for a period of 6 months.

Exactly a year ago, on the same day today, March 15, 2020, we had 29 new cases, a total of 140 cases and a death toll of 12. At this rate, Metro Manila was deep into the lockdown.

Fast forward to today. Ngayon ay ang first year anniversary ng pagpataw ng Enhanced Community Quarantine sa atin dito sa Luzon. Ngayon, ang mga kaso ng COVID nitong March 13 lamang, ay nasa limang libong kaso— that's the highest single tally in 2021 so far. Even in the age of disinformation and conspiracy theories, 5-thousand cases a day cuts through the noise. As they say, numbers don't lie.

This brings:

•  the total of our cases to 616, 611, and

•  the total deaths to 12,766.

All this, despite one of the longest, strictest lockdowns in the world.

Yan ba ang patunay sa sinasabi nila, almost a week ago, na EXCELLENT response? Yan ba ang sinasabi nila, simula pa noong January, na EXCELLENT performance?

In Metro Manila alone, the reproduction number is currently at 1-point-86 according to Octa Research, adding that "the Philippines might record up to 8-thousand daily new COVID cases by the end of March, and 18 to 20-thousand by mid-April."

Are these numbers worthy of patting ourselves on the back for? One year into the pandemic, they compare the Philippines to more advanced economies. They say we have had fewer deaths. They say our population is not the same. EXACTLY. We are not the same, and those countries did not even have to impose severe, militaristic, and long lockdowns upon their people.

If they insist on a gold star for performance, how about the latest figures from the World health Organization... which put the country in a very dismal position compared to all the other countries in the Western Pacific Region.

Kung ito ang tinutukoy nilang "excellent," aba, dito, sa kategoryang ito, hindi maikakailang number one ang Pilipinas: number one in total cases, number one in average daily cases, number one in number of deaths.

Sa lagay na yan, ay hindi pa kasali ang dagok ng COVID-19 sa ating ekonomiya. Una, sa KAWALAN NG TRABAHO. At least 4-million Filipinos were unemployed in January 2021, with an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent— that's one of our highest in 20 years.

Ikalawa, ang PAGBAGAL NG PAGLAGO NG EKONOMIYA. Our economic managers say that the economy contracted by 8.5% - 9.5% in 2020, plunging our country into recession. Ayon sa assessment ng ASEAN Focus noong September 2020, napakakupad ng pagtugon ng administrasyon sa malawakang epekto ng pandemya. Dagdag pa nila, naghigpit nga ang ating mga opisyal sa quarantine measures, but "later lifted restrictions prematurely." Napansin din ng report na ito ang kawalan ng kaayusan sa protocols at testing, pati na ang nakakadismayang pakikitungo sa mga OFWs na nawalan na nga trabaho sa ibang bansa, ay pinahihirapan pa sa kanilang quarantine procedures paglapag sa Pilipinas.

May pag-asa naman dahil nabigyan na ng Emergency Use Authorization ang ilang COVID-19 vaccines. Ngunit delayed pa rin ang pagdating ng iba dahil parang may kinikilingang brand ang administrasyon or maybe because somebody dropped the ball during the negotiation phase.

Kahit sabihin nating nagsimula na ang pagbabakuna, the vaccines that are already here have not been rolled-out fast enough. As of March 10, only 144,615 individuals have been vaccinated, with our own Health Secretary admitting that our vaccination roll-out rate is "not as quick as we wanted." I share the sentiment of our colleague, Sen. Ping who said that at the rate we are vaccinating, we can only finish inoculating 70-million of our kababayan by 2033. Huwag naman po!

At ngayong hindi na naman magkaintindihan ang mga opisyal kung paano ibababa ang bilang ng mga kaso ng COVID, babalik nanaman sila sa parehong style nila noong 2020: militarismo bilang tugon sa isang problemang pangkalusugan. Bakit ba mga pulis natin na naka-fatigue at may hawak na baril ang kailangang manaway sa mga tao para magsuot ng mask, mag-face shield, at mag physical distancing?

Yung pinagdadaaanan ng ating mga kababayan sa kamay ng batas, ibang-iba sa pinagdaraanan ng ating Chief PNP: na last year, nakapag-mañanita pa; who last week, skipped health screening in Calapan City, at ngayon, positive pala para sa COVID. Of course, sana ay gumaling siya again.

Napakarami nang mga pagkakataon na inabuso ng ilang pulis at maging mga local government officials ang kanilang kapangyarihan sa ngalan umano ng pagpapatupad ng health protocols.

Ilan sa mga masasamang ulat ay ang paglapastangan sa karapatan ng dalawang menor de edad sa Naic, Cavite, na isang oras na pinahiga pa sa ataul bilang parusa. Sa Santa Cruz, Laguna naman, may limang menor de edad na pinagsiksikan at kinulong sa dog cage dahil lang lumampas sa curfew.

Bakit kailangang tipunin pa ang mga tao at pagdikit-dikitin sa isang lugar kung ang paraan para maiwasan ang COVID ay maghiwa-hiwalay at dumistansya? Pag-isipan naman sana natin ang ating mga ginagawang patakaran. Hindi law enforcement response ang magiging gamot sa isang public health emergency.

Gaya ng nasabi ko na noon, iwanan na natin ang naratibo na pasaway ang ating mga kababayan. Pagkatiwalaan natin ang ambag nila sa isang community-based promotive, preventive and protective response sa COVID-19. Bigyan natin ng pagkakataon ang kapwa nating Pilipino... to do their share in this fight.

Hindi naman natin sinasabing madali lang labanan ang COVID-19. Pero hindi rin naman kaila sa ating lahat ang matagal na at paulit-ulit na samo ng World Health Organization para mapababa ang mga kaso: TEST, TRACE, ISOLATE, and TREAT. Yan ang naglagay sa Vietnam at sa New Zealand sa safe zone, bago pa man dumating ang mga bakuna.

Matagal na tayong nasabihan to to "push harder" and "work harder," dahil anumang pagkaantala, anumang pagpapaliban, ay katumbas ng mas mahirap na pagpapatigil sa pagkalat ng virus. Kaya't narito tayo ngayon, isang taon na ang nakalipas, wala pa ring unified contact tracing system.

Kailangan natin ng tulong ng ating mga mamamayan, mga registered at accredited people's organizations at civil society organizations to complement local epidemiological and surveillance units. Pagtutulungan ang magiging susi sa mas maayos na data analysis at response.

Data is the way to a new and better normal.

Data is also the way to accountability.

Tulad na lang ng mga numero tungkol sa napakataas na presyo ng mga PPEs at testing kits na ibinunyag rin natin dito noong nakaraang taon. Kung susuriin natin ang report ng DOH, bumili sila ng isang milyong set ng PPEs sa halagang P1.8 billion, kung saan bawat set ay pumapatak sa P1,800, halos doble na ng presyo ng pinakamahal na PPE.

Pero matatandaan din natin na ayon kay Sen. Ping, doble ang halaga na kumpara sa mga pribadong organisasyon. Ayon pa nga kay Senator Grace Poe, mula P400 hanggang P1,000 ang presyo ng isang set ng PPE sa merkado.

Isa pang rebelasyon ni Sen. Ping, yung binili ng gobyerno na Nucleic Acid Extractors para sa Covid-testing, umabot sa P4 million. Pero yung Project Ark, nakabili ng parehong unit sa presyong P1.75 million.

Yung swabbing system, mayroon ding pag-dodoble ng price tag. Kung ang pribadong sektor, nakabili sa halagang 16-dollars per unit, ang gobyerno, gumastos ng 32-dollars kada isa. This is why I also filed a resolution urging COA to conduct a special audit on how funds for the COVID-19 response have been spent. I hope this doesn't happen with our COVID vaccines and related collaterals, kung saan ang perang nakalaan ay inutang pa natin.

We cannot be reckless with the more than 14-billion dollars worth of loans. That's equivalent to about 690-billion pesos, that the Filipino people will have to pay for generations to come. They deserve to know what every cent was spent on, and that every cent was truly used for their health, protection and recovery.

It is for this reason that I am urging the DOH to immediately set-up a vaccine tracker to apprise everyone of the progress of our vaccination efforts. Dapat alam ng mga Pilipino kung ano, ilan, magkano, at kanino mapupunta ang mga binili at bibilhing vaccines.

My dear colleagues, this is why we need better data analytics and information management. Malinis, matapat, maasahan at napapanahong datos at impormasyon na siyang gagamitin para sa maayos na pagpapasya at pagbuo ng mga epektibong polisiya.

This is also why, Mr. President, if we were to give an excellent mark, it would not be the administration's handling of the public crisis, but to all medical frontliners who have been in the forefront of this fight, despite tremendous sacrifices on their end, especially during times when even their basic Personal Protective Equipment were lacking. We commend them for holding the line of our health system capacity and for making sure that the health care system remains afloat.

The same excellent mark should be given to essential workers who, despite difficulties in transportation, work space arrangements, and the threat of being exposed to the virus, soldiered on so that basic goods and services will continue to be received by the rest of us.

Lastly, Mr. President, we should commend our Local Government Units and the private sector for taking proactive leadership roles and initiatives. Quite often during this pandemic, it is our LGUs have stepped up to make-up for the deficiencies of our national government. LGUs, along with the private sector filled in the gaps or whenever the national government seems to be acting in slow motion.

Mr. President, ako po ay naniniwalang we will get through this health crisis despite the enormity of the challenge because of the best efforts being exerted by our national and local health authorities. That despite working within a weak and fragmented health system, and facing immense pressure on all fronts, we acknowledge their work and thank them for not giving up and for continuing the fight. But just like in any fight, we need inspirational and innovative leaders who will rally and tell us the real score and not blindside us with self-made assessments seemingly drawn from thin air that guide us away from the real picture. If we are a real team, we need our leaders to step-up and employ the "whole of society" approach to the crisis, especially as we begin to roll out and expand COVID-19 vaccination.

COVID-19 is a health problem. That was the case in 2020 and that has not changed only because 365 days have passed. This virus is not going away just because you brandish a gun, just as it will not stop spreading because there are officers in fatigues at a checkpoint.

As I have already said before, it is our health professionals and scientists who need the widest berth. It is our development workers, our communities, our LGUs that need a boost in resources so they are not left to their own devices.

And now that we have the looming threat of new variants, we are all hoping, fervently and ardently that we don't spend another year stuck in a time loop. There's a year of lessons here just waiting to be learned and applied to our policies. Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, let us beware the ides of March.

In the Filipino spirit of bayanihan, this time around, let us hope government is more proactive in doing it right. We all know we can still do better in this fight. Ipakita natin sa Asya at sa buong mundo, ipangako natin ngayong mismong araw ng paniningil, na sa ibang paraan naman natin susukatin ang ating pagtugon sa hamon ng COVID ngayong 2021: Kapit-kamay at walang iwanan sa ere— na narito tayong lahat para sa isa't-isa.