Senator Grace Poe said Wednesday that the government should keep up with the resilience of Filipinos and provide a "better" response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts.
"Our national recovery should not rely on our people’s resilience alone. It also depends largely on government’s response," Poe said in her closing statement during the virtual Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
"If the people’s response has been overwhelming, government should reciprocate with better performance," she added.
Poe noted how majority of the population have complied with government quarantine protocols.
"No other people have endured the longest lockdown as we have," she said.
She also said that "no other people have worn their masks with discipline" like Filipinos and that while some are still stubborn, "Hindi tayo nagra-rally na huwag tayong mag-mask, hindi katulad sa ibang bansa (We are not rallying against the use of masks, unlike in other countries)."
She also enumerated how Filipinos showed compassion in extending help to those in need despite constraints.
"Kulang ang face shields at PPE ng mga frontliners, kapwa nila Pilipino ang unang nagbigay sa kanila. Huli na ang gobyerno (There was a lack in face shields and personal protective equipment for frontiners, their fellow Filipinos were first to give them those. The government was late)," Poe said.
"Kulang ng materyales pang-modules sa mga paaralan? Namigay tayo ng mga papel at notebook (Lacking materials for modules in schools? People gave out papers and notebooks)," she added.
"No ride to work? People walked before the break of dawn to jobs pay little. Government has yet to give away one free bicycle but ordinary Filipinos, including children who have smashed their piggy banks, have donated thousands to people who have the will but don’t have the wheels to go to work," she continued.
Poe also pointed out how Filipinos have already adjusted much to the lack of food and transportation and facilities to go home to their families.
"Ano pa’ng hahanapin mo sa Pilipino (What else are you looking for in Filipinos)? What is missing in the equation?" she asked.
"A better government response na kayang sabayan ang determinasyon ng mamamayan (that can match the determination of our countrymen). A government that can march in lockstep with people determined to fight their way out of this crisis," she stressed.
On Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that while he was "saddened" over the result of the Social Weather Stations survey showing the rise of the country’s unemployment to 45.5 percent -- or about 27.3 million Filipinos -- he was still pleased that the figure did not reach 100 percent during the pandemic. Critics heard this statement as the presidential spokesman trivializing the latest unemployment data.