Dispatch from Crame No. 1,044:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the unabated rise in joblessness, prices and COVID-19 cases in the country

Tumaas na ang bilihin, bilang ng mga nawalan ng trabaho at kaso ng COVID-19 pero ang kalidad ng serbisyo ng gobyernong ito hindi pa rin tumataas. Isa lang naman ang malinaw na dahilan kung bakit tila ba iniwan na tayo sa ere ng pamahalaan.

Malacañang now seems to be a madhouse of 2022 presidential aspirants, and we all know who they are! They thrive on people's misery as if this is the foundation of their campaign propaganda. Bakit nga naman nila ibubuhos ang ayuda at bakuna, kung maaari naman nila itong gamitin sa eleksyon?! That's their strategy and we are all smart enough to crack it. Chaos is truly a ladder, and we know who the social climbers in politics are.

Case in point, in April 2019, the Magna Carta of the Poor, which I authored, was signed into law by President Duterte himself. Yet, up to now, the IRR of this law remains at his desk. Inupuan lang, natutulog kasama ng Pangulo habang nalulunod na sa labis na kahirapan ang taumbayan. If only this government knew how to set its priorities, then we would have a fully enacted and functioning law that covers the rights to adequate food, decent work, relevant and quality education, adequate housing and highest attainable standard of health - which, as we know, are being eroded day by day because of the ineptitude of this administration.

Habang abala sina Juan at Juana makadiskarte ng pang-kain at maghanap ng trabaho, at habang ang mga healthcare workers ay patuloy na nakikipagdigmaan sa makamandag na pandemya, ang pamahalaang Dutertete ay abala rin sa pagpropa kung sino ang mga pambato nila sa susunod na eleksyon.

Our economy is in freefall and our society is in ruins because of the intolerable ineptitude of Duterte and his minions. Their incompetence alone is disgusting but their callousness and sheer indifference to people's suffering makes it even worse. 'Excellent' pa daw kamo ang grado nila sa pagsugpo ng pandemya? Baka naman 'excellent' sa larangan ng kurapsyon, pamumulitika at pagpaslang.

With this kind of leadership and action, normalcy is so elusive. Tayo na naman ang mag-aadjust sa kabagalan at kakuparan ng kanilang trabaho. With our already over ?10 trillion debt, we expect more than just band-aid solutions.

Isang taon na mula noong unang lockdown dahil sa Corona Virus. Lockdown pa rin ang solusyon ni Duterte. Paulit-ulit lang ang problema dahil walang totoo at matinong tugon ang gobyernong umasa sa pulis at mga heneral para sagutin ang isang krisis na pangkalusugan. Isang taon ding natulog sa pansitan ang Pangulo. Malinaw na ang tulog na liderato ang nagpalala sa pandemya.

Ayuda hindi kampanya! Trabaho hindi panggagantso!

(Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatchno1044)