‘Even though it’s been 9 months,’ OVP spox remains grateful that Duterte realized testing is important

MANILA, Philippines – Although it took President Rodrigo Duterte a while to realize that testing is an important part of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) is still happy and grateful for his admission.

Speaking on his regular Sunday radio show, OVP spokesman Barry Gutiérrez said this affirms Vice President Leni Robredo’s long call for a massive test to curb broadcasts of the coronavirus.

During his prerecorded briefing on December 7, Duterte announced that he realized that testing is a vital part of the response to a pandemic, prompting angry and puzzled reactions from people who have long advocated for testing. massive. However, Malacañang assured that testing has always been a priority even with the late admission of the president.

READ: Duterte wants government health facilities to conduct free COVID-19 testing

“Well, I’m kind of grateful that he said that tests are important. Already in March, Vice President Leni has been calling for the need for mass testing, ”Gutiérrez said in Filipino during a radio interview with DZXL.

“So I’m still happy that even though it’s been nine months, the president accepted that it’s okay for us to do tests. Because that has been a long-standing resounding call from Vice President Leni that testing is necessary to provide a clear picture of how many Filipinos have COVID-19 – where they are, what areas and how much, “he added.

With the president himself admitting to the importance of testing, Gutiérrez hopes that the fake news and criticism of Robredo due to his strong push for aggressive testing will now stop.

And because of this, since fake news abounds on social media, now that the president said so maybe they could stop criticizing Vice President Leni on social media, like when they said their suggestions for mass testing are not applicable and are a mere falsehood, “he said.

“But now, the president himself said it, maybe if you don’t believe Vice President Leni, if you don’t believe the doctors and other experts, maybe they stick to the idea because President Duterte said so,” he added.

As early as March 17, the start of the shutdowns across Luzon, Robredo advocated for community testing or mass testing to ensure broadcasts don’t reach densely populated areas, which can prove too big of a problem if left unchecked.

Robredo also said the tests could cut transmissions because they would stop infections in a home, rather than spreading from one area to another.

While his suggestion garnered support from critics of the administration, it was rebuked by Duterte supporters and even officials who pointed out that the government does not have the capacity to conduct mass testing, as no country in the world has.

Rather, they said they are opting for “selective testing,” which was scoffed at by the opposition, as they reasoned that the mass testing never meant testing the entire population.

READ: No massive tests? Opposition groups ask what the 2-month lockdown was for

Apart from these, Gutiérrez also hoped that Duterte’s comments would mark the start of more COVID-19 tests, especially since the Department of Health (DOH) has been preparing for free tests after the president’s statement.

While the country has steadily increased its testing capacity, with more than 6.19 billion tests conducted since the pandemic hit the shores of the Philippines, it has not been consistently hitting the 40,000 mark according to the DOH COVID-19 tracker.

“I hope that with that sign, with the president’s statement, we will have a massive test intensified because from the analyzes of the experts that I have read, we could face an underreporting of COVID-19 cases in areas where there is no widespread massive testing. . ,” He explained.

READ: After Duterte ‘realization’, DOH now prepares for free COVID-19 testing

JE

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