Presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo and opposition senatorial bet Jose Manuel 'Chel' Diokno on Tuesday, Jan. 11, called on the Duterte government to provide free mass testing to Filipinos as the country suffers from the worst surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections.
Robredo warned that if the need for mass testing is not addressed, asymptomatic patients who are not aware that they are infected will cause a spread of the virus.
“Sobrang nakakabahala. Kaya ito nga yung punto natin na sana ma-control yung transmissibility, kasi pag di natin na-control yung transmissibility, ‘yung healthcare system natin, di nya kakayanin (It is very alarming. This is our point that we hope we can control the transmissibility, because if we don’t control the transmissibility, our healthcare system will fall),” she said during a virtual meet-up with reporters.
Diokno, in a television interview, voiced the same concerns.
The human rights lawyer said that the government “must do something about this,” referring to the lack of free COVID-19 mass testing two years into the pandemic.
The expensive COVID-19 tests—with antigen tests ranging from P900 and up and the RT-PCR tests costing P2,500 to as much as P7,000—discourage people from getting tested despite experiencing symptoms.
“I’ve spoken to a lot people who tell me, hindi na ako magpapa-test dahil ang laki ng gastos ko (I will not get tested anymore because it’s so expensive). I think I have it, I probably have it because I was exposed and I feel them symptoms but I’m gonna spend so much because I’m sick, and if you add the cost of having a RT-PCR test, e di lalaki pa lalo ang gastos ko (my expenses will be higher),” he said.
The government earlier opposed mass testing because of a predicament in its “definition” with government officials insisting that mass testing refers to the 110 million population.
READ: Robredo asks gov’t: ‘Mass testing still a problem 2 years into the pandemic?’
Robredo, for her part, explained that mass testing refers to testing individuals in areas with high transmission rates.
Meanwhile, Diokno also wants the government to address the “underlying reasons” why people are hesitant to get vaccinated despite the advice from health experts.
“It’s not simply a question of rolling out a national communication program and telling everyone to get vaccinated,” Diokno said.
“We must address the underlying reasons why they are hesitant. And part of that in our country has to do with the prior experiences of our people with other vaccines,” he added.
The rollout of the country’s vaccination program would have been “easier and smoother” if these underlying issues were addressed early on.
Diokno added that the government should be more transparent to ensure equal distribution of vaccines in various areas of the country.
“Are they being rolled out equitably throughout the country and are we really getting it to the areas that haven’t gotten vaccinated? I hope the government can be more transparent about that,” he stressed.
So far, the country has vaccinated 52,849,101 individuals.
President Duterte earlier ordered barangay officials to restrict the movement of unvaccinated Filipinos.