It has been more than a year since President Rodrigo Duterte first assured Filipinos that Covid-19 would not pose a threat to the country.
On February 4, 2020, the President made a claim that everything is fine and that the coronavirus shouldn’t be feared..
Exactly a year ago, someone downplayed the virus. https://t.co/33k0qJcC7Q
— jp✖️ plus why (@dumidyeypee) February 2, 2021
However, his assurance failed. He underestimated the lethality of the coronavirus. Now over a year since he disregarded Covid-19, people cannot help recall his failed assurance
Singer Leah Navarro concluded that with all the declarations and empty assurances from the leader of the country, she believes he is deluded.
He’s clearly out of his mind. Pisti. https://t.co/3QEkOshUfZ
— Leah Navarro (@leahnavarro) February 4, 2021
@CityMouse14 gave his reaction on the president’s downplaying of the virus. According to the netizen, his assurance was nothing since after a year of battling the pandemic, the Philippines has become one of the most mismanaged countries when it comes to Covid-19 response.
Musta na, Mang kanor?
Sabi nga ni #EdselSalvana, the system is working.
Sa ngayon na isa tayo sa pinaka mismanaged na abnsa sa Covid response, tuloy pa rin ang pag aangat ng banko ng ungas na yun. https://t.co/2XtRyGKrSv
— CityMouse (@CityMouse14) February 4, 2021
@lustitiaAugusta recalled the lockdown imposed by the government during the height of the pandemic. It was the longest lockdown in 2020 as it spanned for over 5 months, starting in March and ended in August last year.
https://twitter.com/IustitiaAugusta/status/1357491798466195456
For @YOLOinthePH, when the president disregarded the imminent threat that the coronavirus posed, he proved to Filipinos that he is unfit to be the leader of the country.
Duterte downplayed COVID threat. He failed to foresee the serious effects of this virus to our health and economy. He just proved that he is unfit to be the leader of this country. https://t.co/hzAEsPFTei
— Y 0 L 0 (@itsY0L0) February 4, 2021
The president’s downplaying of the coronavirus has now led the Philippines to a state where it has become harder to live. Many have no jobs, most establishments remained closed, GDP reached -9.5% growth, and the economy is failing. Moreover, Covid cases continued to rise despite the government having a “plan”.
Now that there is a new variant of the coronavirus, the government looks like they haven’t learned anything from last year.
On February 1, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque is confident that despite the country easing its travel ban, there is nothing to worry about the new variant. This led netizen @quantumeruit to remind Roque that the first Covid-19 case in the Philippines was because of a 38-year-old Chinese woman.
In case they forgot, the first COVID19 case in the Philippines involved a 38-year-old Chinese woman https://t.co/6RhhtfOuPr
— Quo Warrantine (@quantumeruit) February 1, 2021
During the press briefing on Monday, February 1, Roque refuted the claims, though evident, that the Philippines is lagging when it comes to the vaccine rollout.
“Kasinungalingan. Walang basehan. Guni-guni. Pantasya ng mga gusto na namang bumalik sa kapangyarihan,” said Roque.
This government still doesn’t see the effects of their decisions to the majority of Filipinos.
And earlier this evening, the Department of Health detected 8 new cases of the UK variant of the coronavirus.
