State media told to show Philippines ‘faring better’ in COVID-19 response
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has instructed state media to show that the Philippines is doing better compared to other countries in managing the pandemic by reporting global COVID-19 statistics daily.
The directive is contained in a memorandum from Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) officer-in-charge George Apacible that was first posted by the anti-administration Pinoy Ako Blog.
Totoo to? @martinandanar ?
— PinoyAkoBlog (@PinoyAkoBlog) April 28, 2021
Ito ang narrative instructions niyo?
Kalurks. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/nUdKgQUw5e
In the memo, state media were told to “carry regular updates about the world data on COVID-19” to “convey to the public that the Philippines is faring better than many other countries in addressing the pandemic.”
Confirming the existence of the memo, PCOO News and Information Bureau head Virginia Arcilla-Agtay said Duterte gave this instruction “in order to provide adequate information and convey working policies, particularly those that aim to address the effects of the pandemic in the country.”
“There is nothing wrong with this, nor is it a lie, it is simply amplifying facts,” Arcilla-Agtay said.
What do the facts say?
In her statement, Arcilla-Agtay listed down data from various sources which appear to paint the picture of the pandemic in the Philippines in a rosier tone. Most of her claims, however, do not hold water.
As of writing, data from the World Health Organization show that the Philippines has the 26th most number of COVID-19 cases globally. Among Southeast Asian nations, the Philippines has the second most number of COVID-19 cases, only next to Indonesia.
Arcilla-Agtay claimed that the Philippines achieved a “reputable and efficient” response to COVID-19 compared to some developed, more advanced and less densely-populated countries.
Citing the private OCTA Research Group, Arcilla-Agtay said the country’s reproduction number — which estimates how many persons can be infected by a COVID-19 patient — has gone down to 0.85, without mentioning that it reached over 2 in March when coronavirus cases surged.
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.
Citing Bloomberg and other “foreign posts,” Arcilla-Agtay claimed that the Philippines is the fourth among 10 Southeast Asian countries in terms of vaccine rollout.
The Philippines is actually the fifth among 11 Southeast Asian countries in terms of number of vaccine doses administered, according to Bloomberg’s data, but the Philippines places ninth in terms of the percentage of the population who have received at least one vaccine dose.
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 and reach herd immunity.
Arcilla-Agtay added that based on data from Johns Hopkins University, the Philippines has a low daily case count per million, even if the Philippines is the second-highest in Southeast Asia based on this metric, following Malaysia.
She also claimed that the Philippines is in the 28th spot in terms of testing according to Worldometers, when it is actually in the 140th spot.
In the past, state media has been involved in numerous blunders ranging from the wrong use of logos to outrightly false claims.
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