Opposition Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan asked on Tuesday whether the Duterte administration has slowed down the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, after spending P353 billion for this purpose.
“We’d like to know: We’ve spent P353 billion. We will allocate another P130 billion to P140 billion. With all the money spent in the last several months, where are we in terms of curbing the spread of the virus? Have we flattened the curve?” Pangilinan asked as the Senate discussed the measure extending the Bayanihan Law.
The current Bayanihan Law, which came into effect last March 23, will expire on June 24. Congress is set to adjourn sine die on June 4. “The issue of backlog and late data on results obviously will lead to poor contact tracing and leading to the inability or failure to isolate high-risk people… If a private hospital can achieve a faster turnaround, why can’t government do the same?” Pangilinan asked in Tuesday’s plenary session.
While the Philippines has 49 accredited laboratories with 81 pending, Vietnam has 112, and South Korea has 500 testing centers. Pangilinan said he is raising these issues to appeal to the DOH leadership and bureaucracy to act with a sense of urgency as the situation is emergency in nature.
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