President Duterte is putting the lives of people first by imposing tougher lockdown rules as precaution against the coronavirus outbreak, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.
Locsin explained that people would likely get sick and die if the movement controls would not be enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The country's active cases of coronavirus have jumped to 96,395 after authorities reported 13,177 cases Friday. The government is aiming to slow down the coronavirus transmission by placing Metro Manila under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the most restrictive of the four quarantine classifications, from August 6 to August 20. Movement curbs are also enforced in other parts of the country to stem the virus spread.
"We are again locked up in another enhanced community quarantine. That or we sicken and die," Locsin said in a video message on International Humanitarian Law Day on August 12.
"The imperative of repeated lockdowns is killing business but no choice. It's business or our people. And for this President, people always come first," he added.
He said the country has battled the pandemic for a year and a half now but "we are nowhere near a definitive solution." "We've pushed it back and lost the ground we took when we let down our guard and we pushed back again," he said.
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To help boost the people's protection agains the virus, the government has also stepped up the vaccination drive as more supplies arrive in the country.
"The Philippines has jabbed more than 23 million vaccine doses as early August," Locsin said.
The country has so far received more than 42 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines, that include jabs made by Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer. The country has surpassed the 12-million mark in the number of persons fully vaccinated so far.
The government aims to inoculate 50 to 70 million adult Filipinos to reach herd immunity before the end of the year or early 2022.
Unhampered humanitarian mission
Amid the raging pandemic, Locsin also made a pitch for the unhampered delivery of humanitarian relief, including safe vaccines, to communities especially those conflict-torn areas. He said IHL observance underscored the urgency of ensuring availability and accessibility of medical personnel, facilities and services for the people living in these places.
"The denial of medical care and vaccination as leverage for political bargaining is nothing but war waged with impunity without even the small grace of combat," he said.
"Withholding relief in desperate situations is diplomacy by being just plain mean and low," he added.