"You got want you wanted."
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque gave this sharp retort to his critics after the country may not be able to beat the University of the Philippines' forecast of cases reaching 85,000 by the end of the month.
(YANCY LIM / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Roque admitted he was saddened that the country might not have coronavirus cases lower than the UP forecast.
"Well, I’m sad to say, we’re not," he said over CNN Philippines Wednesday when asked about the country's chances of beating the projection made by UP researchers.
"And to those who made fun of my excitement, well, you got want you wanted. The forecast happened and I see no reason why we should celebrate. It’s very sad," he added.
A study by the UP OCTA Research has projected that country's cases of coronavirus could top 85,000 by the end of July with deaths increasing to 2,200. The increased movement of the public during general community quarantine was among the factors considered in the surge of infections.
As of July 28, the country has recoded 83,673 cases of coronavirus with 1,947 deaths.
Roque maintained that the country must "always aim to beat the forecast because we have the tools."
"It can happen because it happened in Cebu already, that they were able to reduce the transmission and since Cebu was able to do it, we should be able to do it in Metro Manila as well," he said.
Roque earlier congratulated the nation for beating a University of the Philippines (UP) forecast on 40,000 cases of coronavirus cases last month, triggering a firestorm of criticisms for some lawmakers and other groups for allegedly being misinformed. The country had 37,514 cases of infections at the end of June.
Roque explained that he was merely celebrating the “small victory” of the country in having cases lower than the UP projection.