MANILA, Philippines — With the national government deploying police officers again to implement the "NCR+ bubble," groups renewed calls for a medical and scientific approach to arresting the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
The national police has already deployed some 10,000 cops to "compel" Filipinos to comply with quarantine protocols, leading to over 5,000 arrests in just the first week.
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In a statement, Agham (Advocates for Science and Technology for the People) warned that going back to old habits would only ensure that the escalation of infections will continue even under the current bubble-lockdown, urging the administration to consider a change of leadership at the helm of the government's pandemic response.
"As the COVID-19 pandemic turned one year, we urge the Duterte government to seriously consider not only replacing IATF-EID leadership with competent professionals but also implement science-based proposals to curb the worsening pandemic," Agham said.
"We cannot afford to see another 13,000 Filipinos succumb to the disease, this is never a small thing. Duterte must overhaul its failed COVID-19 pandemic response approach. It should start with replacing IATF-EID leadership with competent medical and scientific professionals."
The Philippines earlier this week set a record high in daily coronavirus additions in the country after being on lockdown for 372 days—the longest quarantine in the world.
"It is clear that Duterte’s militarist approach and the IATF-EID leadership cannot solve the public health crisis. A humane, pro-people and progressive health response to the pandemic will never be found at the end of the police's meterstick, it is a reflection of this regime's fascist character even in a health and medical emergency."
What else can be done?
Agham in its statement reiterated the same calls and recommendations that other healthcare collectives have long called for, namely:
- "The Philippines must immediately implement free mass testing and more aggressive contact tracing in view of increased transmission of COVID-19. With the latest COVID-19 cases hovering around 8,000, we should test at least 160,000 individuals per day through massive contact tracing in order to reach the WHO minimum requirements of 5% positivity rate. The latest positivity rate is already at a very alarming level above 15%."
- "Testing and isolation should be in tandem with a healthcare system that responds to the needs of the population and a government that addresses its social needs."
- "We should hire more scientists and workers in various scientific and medical institutions such as the Philippine Genome Center and provide them with enough resources and facilities. This would enable us, for example, to understand the virus through genome sequencing at the national scale for us to be prepared in monitoring COVID-19 variants of concern."
Deflated coronavirus death toll?
Agham in its statement also pointed out that the deaths tallied by the Department of Health only refer to those of confirmed COVID-19 patients.
The group cited figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority, which counted 27,967 of all COVID-19 related deaths, which include the deaths of cases classified as confirmed and probable, for the entirety of 2020 alone.
"This can be considered as a minimum estimate of excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic," the group said.
"Excess mortality would include other deaths that could have been prevented if restrictions in hospital admissions and changes in overall health care did not occur, but the Philippines health department does not include this in its daily tally."
'Re-assign military generals to West Philippine Sea'
With the continuing Chinese presence in the West Philippine Sea, fisherfolk federation Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas also called for the reassignment of military officials in the IATF in favor of healthcare professionals, asserting that the task force “requires a medical and scientific approach from appropriate experts, not a militaristic solution."
“Military generals must leave the IATF to suitable experts from public health, science, and social welfare sectors. They should instead focus on supervising the TF-WPS and deal with the intensified Chinese aggression which concerns our national sovereignty and territorial rights,” Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya national chairperson said in a separate statement sent to reporters.
"We already witnessed the disaster of letting the military handle a public health situation instead of real experts on the field. It’s been one year since the IATF was established to earmark the health emergency situation and yet the progress remains elusive."
Health officials recorded 5,867 additional COVID-19 infections earlier Tuesday afternoon, bringing the national caseload to 677,653.
As of press time, the Philippines has been on lockdown for 372 days—good for the longest quarantine in the world.
"To enumerate the various errors and kapalpakan of the Duterte government when it comes to addressing the pandemic, a thing already known and felt by most Filipinos, means to see clearly that there should be a change in the leadership," Agham added.
"The Duterte administration with its militaristic IATF-EID have not flattened the curve even with the recent rollout of vaccines. The numbers don’t lie: we are in a worse state than when we were less prepared a year ago in addressing the pandemic in the country. The IATF-EID leadership should resign, be replaced with competent people with medical and scientific backgrounds, and be held accountable for thousands of deaths." — Franco Luna