Dispatch from Crame No. 1,050:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima: Quarta sa Quarantine - Ayuda hindi Propaganda!

Ayuda sa lockdown. Tama yan! But in kind? Baka mas mahal pa ang magastos natin sa administrative cost at padulas kaysa makakuha ang mga kababayan nating ni-lockdown na naman ng pamahalaang ito. Nagbabalak pa atang maglagay ng mukha nila sa ayuda. Wala na ngang matakbuhan ang ating mga kababayan, ang isinasalubong pa ng iba ay mga nagbabalak nang tumakbo sa halalan. Sabi ko nga, ang kailangan ng ating mga kababayan, hindi lang quarantine, quarta rin.

Last year's SAP distribution was a disaster within a disaster! Maliban sa inabot ito nang siyam-siyam dahil sa usad-Digong na pamumuno, hindi pa naipamigay sa lahat ng benepisyaryo at nangangailangan. Hangad natin ang isang maayos at mabilis na pamamahagi ng ayuda! The faster the better, and that should be in cash. Kung tatak ni Duterte ang mag-repeat, dito, wala dapat repeat ng mahabang pila, magulong listahan at dagdag pasakit sa mga naghihikahos nating kababayan.

And as we endure another set of strict lockdown which I think will last for more than just a week, let it be clear that cash assistance should go along with strengthening our 3Ts and V: test-trace-treat systems and mass vaccination which are until now very weak and slow too, if not a total failure. Test hindi tongpats; Trace hindi tarp; Treat hindi tamad at tiwaling pamamalakad.

Hindi dapat ibaling ang sisi sa ordinaryong mamamayan na nakikipagsapalarang lumabas ng bahay kahit may banta ng virus, dahil takot din silang mamatay sa gutom. If they had the choice, wouldn't they just remain at home? But you robbed them off of that choice when you decided not to close the borders the moment it was necessary, when you botched our pandemic response, when you offered nothing more than an inept and once-a-week kind of leadership.

The worst crisis we are facing is one of leadership. And it is truly more lethal than any variant. COVID-19 is deadly but the consequences of immeasurable incompetence are hunger, joblessness and even death of thousands of COVID-afflicted patients: a massacre of our people like no other.

#MassVaccinationHindiMassInfection #AyudaHindiPropaganda #GawaHindiNgawa

(Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatchno1050)