Senator Risa Hontiveros criticized President Rodrigo Duterte for calling the health professionals who lost their lives because of the coronavirus as ‘fortunate’.
In a statement, Hontiveros said that the health workers are not lucky to lose their lives because of the virus, saying that no frontliners would perish if the government just gave them the right equipment to protect themselves from getting sick.
“Hindi po ‘swerte’ ang mga health workers na namatay dahil sa COVID-19. Our health workers should not have been dying in the first place if they had been given ample PPEs & access to testing! Ngayong may special powers & funds, no more excuses,” Hontiveros who’s also the only Senator who rejected the ‘Bayanihan To Heal As One Act’ tweeted.
She then urged the government to enhance the testing capacity in the country to prevent the spread of the virus.
Hontiveros also asked the government about their steps to ensure that the people affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) are going to receive help.
“What are the steps being taken to enhance our capacity for mass testing? How do we ensure that there are enough PPEs? How do we get the funds to the most vulnerable ASAP? We need to mobilize the funds now-kailangan na ito ng taumbayan. To defeat COVID,we need a sense of urgency,” she said.
“The Quarantine is essential at this time to slow the spread of the virus. But it cannot stand alone. For it to be effective, it should be backed up by intensified actions to increase the capacity of our health system, conduct mass testing, & protect our health workers,” she added.
Hindi po ‘swerte’ ang mga health workers na namatay dahil sa COVID-19.
Our health workers should not have been dying in the first place if they had been given ample PPEs & access to testing!
Ngayong may special powers & funds, no more excuses.
— risa hontiveros (@risahontiveros) March 31, 2020
According to Hontiveros, Duterte should act faster now as he already got the special powers he needed to address the problem as soon as possible.
“W/ all the funds & special powers at his disposal since last week, the Pres should at least act w/ a sense of urgency & provide the people w/ concrete plans to address the COVID-19 crisis. But after an almost 8-hour delay, his late-night talk show was a prelude to bad sleep,” she said.
Yesterday, President Duterte said that health workers who sacrificed their lives while fighting the virus are fortunate enough to leave this world as heroes.
“I assure you that your efforts will be rewarded. Your heroism will not be forgotten. Saludo kami sa inyo,” Duterte said.
“May doktor mga nurses namatay, sila ‘yong nasawi ang buhay para lang makatulong sa kapuwa. Napaksuwerte nila. Namatay sila para sa bayan,” he added.
“‘Yon ang dapat rason na bakit tayo mamatay,” Duterte said.