“The human rights situation in the Philippines has now reached a level of gravity requiring a robust intervention by the UN. The Human Rights Council must do everything in its power to prevent the continuation of widespread and systematic human rights abuses against the Philippines people.”
“Four months of being locked up is traumatic for children. The government should consider their mental health. They should not be locked up anymore.”
“The government has shifted the responsibility to parents without due consultation. Our government agencies are used to coming up with programs that are not grounded.”
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who heads the lead Philippine government agency in the fight against the pandemic, issued inaccurate statements and unreliable data, leaving Filipinos in doubt of his capacity to lead the country out of a public health emergency.
Filipino migrant leaders in the United Kingdom, Canada, and US revealed that undocumented workers in those countries are the hardest hit with the lack of social protection amid the dreaded pandemic.
The decrease in the RITM budget is also coupled with the decline in the allotment of other related health concerns, such as the Epidemiology and Surveillance Department, with a 40-percent drop from P247 million in 2019 to P101 million this year. Since 2015, no additional isolation rooms have been built. Related story: What is RITM?…
“The integrity of the data drops is particularly important given that no less than President Rodrigo Roa Duterte himself has said many times that the government’s decision on managing COVID-19 will be based on science.”
The survey revealed that health workers are working in “excessively long hours while earning very little pay.”
Without mass testing and availability of more testing centers, a molecular biologist reiterated that the Philippines cannot isolate and treat COVID-19 patients.
Gabriela secretary general Joms Salvador said in a Facebook post that Marikina police arrested 10 relief workers who were conducting a feeding program.
This is not the first time that there has been an increase on digital surveillance in the name of protecting the people.