Like other political leaders in the country, House Deputy Minority leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate is equally puzzled at the decision of the Department of Health to stop publishing daily COVID-19 cases on social media next year.
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III aired suspicions of a hidden agenda behind the DOH decision, while senatorial aspirant former Sen. JV Ejercito slammed the timing by which the country’s health officials arrived at the said decision.
In a press statement, Zarate questioned DOH for the “sudden change” in COVID-19 information rules.
Zarate chided the health department for approving such move, saying that this is contrary to the much-needed policy of transparency in government.
“Dapat nga the more na maging transparent pa sila (They should instead be transparent) because people are again now anxious due to reports of an uptick in COVID cases and the Omicron variant. Wag nila antayin na parang maging delta variant na ang level of spread before pa sila umaksyon. (they should not wait until it reaches the Delta variant of transmission before they could act.),” said the opposition lawmaker.
"It appears that this is yet another means of the Duterte administration to downplay the rising number once again of Covid cases, especially since the elections are coming, while its bumbling Covid response continues to be incompetent and ineffective,” he stated.
Zarate added: “This will certainly reflect on the administration's allies and candidates.” The Bayan muna lawmaker said government should work harder to inform the public about the COVID-19 situation in order to encourage more people to get vaccinated and to be more careful.
Zarate pointed out that the DOH decision to withhold public information about COVID 19 gives rise to suspicions that government is trying to cover up for its failures and shortcoming in addressing the COVID-19 crisis that has killed over 51,000 Filipinos.