Is the Duterte administration trying to justify its response to the ongoing pandemic by comparing the Philippines to India and other countries in terms of COVID cases? Is it their way to calm down the Filipino people from retaliating against this current government?
Duterte issued a directive to include COVID-19 statistics as part of media reportage regularly. The report must show that the country is doing better than other countries.
Writer Ogie Rosa pointed out that this act from the government only shows how desperate they are to provide assurance, even false, to the public.
Utos pala ni Duterte na ikumpara ang Pilipinas sa ibang bansa (say, India) para palabasing "we are faring better."
Parang 'yung kaklase mong bagsak pero hindi naman daw siya ang lowest score kaya there's no reason to be sad.
Ganun kadesperado.
— Ogie Rosa (@ogie_rosa) April 28, 2021
Twitter personality PinoyAkoBlog questioned the validity of such a memorandum.
The Netizen even asked PCOO (Presidential Communication Operations Office) Secretary Martin Andanar if such an order exists.
https://twitter.com/PinoyAkoBlog/status/1387256583705399299
Gigi Agtay, the head of PCOO News and Information Bureau confirmed the memo. Presidential niece Nuelle Duterte slammed the government for spreading such propaganda.
https://twitter.com/nuelleduterte/status/1387323621060665345?s=20
A twitter personality even questioned why officials are being interviewed just to spread the incorrect information. She concluded that with the fund PCOO has, it is inevitable.
https://twitter.com/MaamSyj/status/1387308856590491648?s=20
Meanwhile, Agtay, using the information presented to the media, insisted that the Philippines is “faring better than other countries.”
But journalist Xave Gregorio double-checked the claims of the PCOO and found that Agtay withheld some information that could disprove the government’s “excellent” performance against Covid-19.
THREAD: Is the PCOO really "amplifying facts" as it claims? We double-checked their claims. Here's what we found. (1/8) https://t.co/JB83VCWyuD
— Xave Gregorio (@XaveGregorio) April 28, 2021
Agtay said that the reproduction number in the country has gone to 0.85, but left out the information that the Covid-19 reproduction rate has reached over 2 last March.
Citing the OCTA Research Group, PCOO News and Information Bureau head Virginia Arcilla-Agtay says the reproduction number in the PH has gone down to 0.85, without mentioning that it reached over 2 in March (2/8)
— Xave Gregorio (@XaveGregorio) April 28, 2021
She also avoided stating the recommended positivity rate imposed by WHO (World Health Organization) is 5% or lower. She tried to divert the public to the rate going down from 22 to 18%.
She also mentioned that the positivity rate in the country has dropped to 18% from 22%, but did not say that the WHO recommends a positivity rate of 5% or lower (3/8)
— Xave Gregorio (@XaveGregorio) April 28, 2021
In terms of vaccine rollout, Agtay twisted the fact that the Philippines is the fifth among its Southeast Asian counterparts.
Citing Bloomberg and other “foreign posts,” Arcilla-Agtay claimed that the Philippines is the fourth among 10 SEA countries in terms of vaccine rollout.
The PH is actually the fifth among 11 SEA countries in terms of number of vaccine doses administered (4/8)
— Xave Gregorio (@XaveGregorio) April 28, 2021
She also left out the information that among its 11 neighboring countries is placed ninth in terms of “the percentage of the population who have received at least one vaccine dose.”
Further, the PH places ninth in terms of the percentage of the population who have received at least one vaccine dose (5/8)
— Xave Gregorio (@XaveGregorio) April 28, 2021
Agtay also withheld a projection from Bloomberg that the current pace of the country’s vaccination drive would take nine years to vaccinate 75% of the population against the coronavirus.
Not mentioned in the statement, but Bloomberg also projects that at the current pace of the country’s vaccination drive, it would take nine years for the Philippines to inoculate 75% of the population against COVID-19. (6/8)
— Xave Gregorio (@XaveGregorio) April 28, 2021
Columnist Gideon Lasco revealed that based on Bloomberg’s list of “the best and worst places to be during the pandemic”--the Philippines, which previously ranked as no. 35, is now no. 45 out of 53 countries.
The Philippines is now ranked #45 out of 53 in Bloomberg's list of "best and worst places to be during the pandemic", dropping 10 spots since last month.
PH gov't: "But looking at it from another angle….we're actually doing better than other countries, including Brazil!" pic.twitter.com/DMELACYIVF
— Gideon Lasco (@gideonlasco) April 28, 2021
Opposing the claim of the Duterte administration that the country is doing better than India, an organization called “Earth Shaker PH” presented an argument that the assertion from the Administration is false.
According to the group, although the Philippines has fewer confirmed cases than India, the nation has more deaths, lesser tests conducted, and lesser people vaccinated.
ARE WE REALLY "FARING BETTER" THAN INDIA?
Putting population into context, India has slightly more confirmed #COVID19 cases than the Philippines. HOWEVER, the Philippines has more deaths than, lesser tests conducted, and lesser people vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/Zyz48WQEKa
— Earth Shaker PH (@earthshakerph) April 28, 2021
But what’s important is the data’s representation. The organization implied it is not mere numbers, yet a depiction of Filipino lives lost and affected by the pandemic.
NOTE: Going beyond the #COVID19 figures and on who's better and who's not, it's important to realize that behind every number is a human! Instead of being complacent just because "we're not the worst," let's strive to end this pandemic very soon – through science-based decisions.
— Earth Shaker PH (@earthshakerph) April 28, 2021
The union also encouraged the Government not to be “complacent” that the Philippines is not the worst.
Instead, Earth Shaker PH recommended that the nation, through the leadership of Duterte, must strive to put an end to the pandemic using science-based decisions.
