Victor Avecilla
“Simply stated, the WHO declared that the virus response of the government prevented a much higher number of deaths, unlike in other states.
Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic started in March 2020, political enemies and similarly minded critics of President Rodrigo Duterte have had nothing good to say about how his administration responded to the health crisis. The common mantra in those tirades against the government was “too little, too late.”
From the way the President’s critics sounded, it was as if the government had all the time in the world to prepare for the pandemic, and that it scuttled that opportunity. They cite the death rate announced in the news every day, oblivious to the reality that deaths are expected in any pandemic.
While the Covid-19 casualties in the Philippines reached very discouraging numbers during the first three months of the pandemic, the situation became less depressing when the number of recoveries began to increase by summer’s end.
That good news was made possible through the strict quarantine measures imposed by the government, and by the constant public reminders from the nation’s health authorities about how to avoid contracting the deadly disease.
By July, when the critics had lost out on the statistics to use against the administration, they focused their demolition campaign on a number of administrative shortcomings.
All the while, the criticism against the administration did not consider that no government in the world was actually prepared for the pandemic; that all of the efforts of world governments to address the health crisis was largely experimental and risky; and that fighting the dreaded virus costs money, and plenty of it, which the country did not have.
The Duterte administration had to bite the bullet by restricting unnecessary travel, as well as all commercial and private activities that may increase the likelihood of spreading the virus. That was an unpopular move at first, but the lives of the nation and the people were at stake, and the people eventually realized that everything was for their own good.
It wasn’t an easy task considering the penchant of many hard-headed Filipinos to circumvent restrictions on their rights, no matter how justified. This is confirmed by the endless number of reported cases of people who disobey the law, particularly from March to September 2020.
Toward the end of 2020, the measures proved to be provident, and quarantine restrictions nationwide eased up by October.
Unfortunately, the criticism from the political opposition continued. It was the only way they can look relevant to the people during the health crisis. They were stirring the people to look only at the faults of the administration, without bothering to appreciate the accomplishments.
Earlier this week, and to the unpleasant surprise of the President’s critics, the World Health Organization (WHO) commended the Duterte administration for keeping the number of Covid-19 casualties in the Philippines relatively low, compared to other countries.
Simply stated, the WHO declared that the virus response of the government prevented a much higher number of deaths, unlike in other states.
News reports quoted WHO Philippine representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe, who said the Philippines did right in using the nationwide extended lockdown enforced in March 2020 to boost the country’s testing and contract tracing facilities.
At a press conference organized by the Department of Health, Abeyasinghe said, “You have prepared and used the lockdown wisely to deal with the pandemic and the reflection is that you have managed to prevent a large number of deaths like (what) we have seen in several other countries.”
Although there are about 10,807 Covid-19 related deaths registered in the Philippines as of early February 2021, Abeyasinghe said the casualty statistics in the country would be far bigger if the government did not resort to the strict lockdown and if it did not prepare for the worst possible scenario.
As stated earlier, the political opposition is exploiting the current coronavirus health crisis to discredit President Duterte and his administration. They have no other issue, other than a few marginal ones, which they can use against the government. The recent WHO pronouncement throws the political opposition back to square one.
The WHO finding notwithstanding, many Filipinos acknowledge that the strict health measures imposed by the government in 2020 prevented a rampant spread of the coronavirus in the country.