Dispatch from Crame No. 1,118:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the Disaster in Contact Tracing Efforts

8/11/21

When the government's contact tracing czar admitted in May of this year that contact tracing remains the weakest link in PH COVID-19 response, it should have been enough of a wakeup call to get this government's priorities straight. However, it is now nearly seventeen (17) full months since the first lockdown and past several surges of infection, yet this fact, along with many other medical data from neighboring countries, has been disregarded to the point of it now seeming like an outright dereliction of public duty.

Tila ba isinuko na ang labang medikal at inabandona na ang taumbayan habang salitan ang sagutan, epalan at pamumulitika.

With the Delta variant now poised to infect thousands of Filipinos, it is now beyond a shadow of a doubt that the government remains to be ill-informed, ill-prepared and ill-advised. Hindi maalam kaya't hindi maagap, hindi handa kaya't hindi makausad.

Kailangan pa bang i-memorize 'yan? Tatlong salita lamang yan: Test-Trace-Treat. Pero hanggang ngayon eh puro lockdown saka curfew pa rin ang alam niyo. Bakit? May oras lang ba ng paglabas ang COVID?

This question used to be amusing until everyone realized that we truly have an inutile President whose delayed and deficient actions are the textbook opposite of the meaning of "leadership", as they still cannot keep up with the medical facts. And so, we are stuck with policies that are nothing short of confusing, ineffective and downright fatal to public health and harmful to the economic and social interests of our people.

Dagdag pa dito ang hindi pag-gastos ng nakalaan na budget na hinayaan lamang matulog sa kaban ng ahensya. COA's recent report that P29.256 million intended for the hiring, training, monitoring, travel and operational expenses of contact tracers were unspent is clear proof of gross negligence on the part of DILG. With their contracts having lapsed last July, it's no wonder why we are here again enduring another lockdown. Panay utang pero hindi naman pala gagamitin para huwag nang madagdagan ang paghihirap ng mga mamamayan.

This and the fact that billions of Bayanihan 1 and 2 funds were unspent and failed to reach our people in the form of ayuda and other social services raises one question: Saan niyo ba balak gastusin ang perang inutang? Aantayin niyo pa ba ang 2022 kung kailan nakataya na ang mga posisyon niyo sa susunod na halalan? Inuulit ko, ngayon kayo kailangan ng bayan.

Isang kawalan ng hustisya na sa gitna ng pandemya, gutom at kawalan ng trabaho, ay hindi nagagastos ng wasto ang pondo ng bayan. Buhay na naman ng milyun-milyong Pilipino ang nakataya. Biktima na naman tayo ng kapapabayaan ng administrasyong ito. ###

Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_from_crame_no._1118)