Actor Jake Ejercito replied to Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s question to critics who are politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Bagamat 80,000 po ang ating total na kaso, ang death rate wala pa pong 2,000. So 2 percent lang humigit kumulang ang ating case mortality rate. Ano ba naman ang gusto n’yo pa?”
[Even though we have total cases of around 80,000, the death rate is below 2,000. So our case mortality rate only about 2%. What else do you want?]
Jake then took to Twitter his response to this query of Roque. He listed down the shortcomings of the government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Downplayed it at the start
Didn’t close borders early enough
Lack of PPEs
Lack of proper measures for the prolonged lockdown
Still not enough testing
83k total cases
Nearly 2k deathsAno ba naman pa ang gusto namin?? Plano at solusyon! Hindi death penalty, telco, at dolphins! https://t.co/Tg8qZM7ksO
— jake ejercito (@unoemilio) July 28, 2020
“Downplayed it at the start
Didn’t close borders early enough”
Lack of PPEs
Lack of proper measures for the prolonged lockdown
Still not enough testing
83k total cases
Nearly 2k deaths”
Since the beginning of 2020, amidst the threat imposed by COVID-19, the government remained complacent and did not foresee the possibility of a pandemic caused by the Coronavirus which originated from China.
Even after confirming the first few cases of COVID-19 in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte said that there is nothing to worry about the virus since the government on top of it.
Duterte even advised the people to remain calm and vigilant and trust in the government’s plans and actions.
With their downplaying, they keep borders open to tourists. They only realized the need for nationwide lockdown when the cases caused by local transmission were already high. This caused the virus to be spread out around the country.
The government’s lack of preparation also resulted in an inadequate workforce and a lack of medical supplies especially Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III admitted in April that though the country was able to import PPE it is not yet enough for the long run. The lack of PPE also became one factor why many medical professionals died due to COVID-19.
The Philippines is also one of the countries with the longest-lasting lockdown around the world. Despite that, the pandemic is yet a big dilemma for us and it seems that the government’s plans are not working.
As of Tuesday, the Department of Health already recorded a total of 83,673 cases wherein 1,947 of this died due to the virus.
The citizens’ call for mass testing in the country is also not yet realized because only about 1.25% of the population or 1.3 million Filipinos was tested.
With all of these inefficiencies and incapabilities of the government during the pandemic, Jake demanded plans and solutions, echoing the people who demanded that the government to hear them out.
“Ano ba naman pa ang gusto namin?? Plano at solusyon! Hindi death penalty, telco, at dolphins!”
[What else do we want? Plans and solutions! Not the death penalty, telco, and dolphins]
https://twitter.com/unoemilio/status/1287546604824608769
Jake Ejercito is the son of the ex-President and ex-Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada. He is the father of Ellie, his daughter with his ex-girlfriend Andi Eigenmann.
Recently, Jake became part of Star Magic, the talent-management arm of ABS-CBN.
