Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque, Jr. expressed gratitude to the Filipino people for the high marks the Duterte Administration received on its handling of the country’s COVID-19 situation.
“We are humbled and we are further inspired to serve the Filipino people in this time of pandemic and crisis. Maraming maraming salamat po,” Secretary Roque said during a Palace briefing on Thursday.
The latest Pulse Asia survey showed that 84 percent of Filipinos approved how the Duterte Administration handled the control of the spread of the coronavirus, and another 84 percent approved how it provided assistance or subsidy to those who lost their jobs and livelihood due to COVID-19.
“Walo sa sampung tao po ang nagsabi na tama po at aprubado sila sa ginagawa ng IATF at ng gobyernong Duterte pagdating po sa COVID-19…at saka walo sa sampu rin po ang nagsasabing aprubado nila yung pagbibigay ng assistance at subsidy para po dun sa mga nawalan ng livelihood at jobs dahil po sa [COVID-19],” said Secretary Roque, who presented details of the said survey in his press briefing in Malacañan on October 8.
The said Pulse Asia survey, which looked at the performance ratings of the national administration on selected issues regarding COVID-19, was conducted face-to-face with 1,200 respondents between September 14 and 20, 2020.
On another matter, the Palace spokesperson stressed that the session break of the House of Representatives should not be a reason for the delay of the passage of the national budget.
“Yung pagsasampa lang po ng panukalang batas, dapat nauna ang pagsasampa sa Kamara de Representante, at dahil ito naman po ay nasunod, wala pong hadlang para magpatuloy ang deliberation ng Senado sa national budget bill,” Roque remarked.
The Palace spokesman added that there is still enough time to approve the budget on third and final reading in the House of Representatives, and that if needed, a special session can be called to finalize the national budget.
Roque underscored the importance of the said national budget as it contains funding for specific COVID-19 responses like medical assistance to indigents, fund for the establishment of new hospitals, purchase of PPEs, and for procurement of vaccines.
“(It’s) a very important budget. It is the first budget na kinonsidera ang COVID bagama’t mayroon na tayong Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2. Yung kabuuan ng ating stimulus package ay nandito po sa 2021 proposed national budget,” Roque said.
Also in the same press briefing, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. presented the proposed Phase III of the National Action Plan (NAP) on COVID-19, which will cover the period from October 2020 to March 2021.
In terms of health, NAP Phase III will focus on managing health risk, while the economic focus will be on learning to live with the virus, with compliance to the minimum health standards. NAP Phase III will still be anchored on the prevent-detect-isolate-treat-recovery strategy of the government, with prevention and containment as its main components. ### OPS-PCOO
