Duterte says gov't contained COVID-19 ahead of other countries
President Duterte on Monday night took pride that his administration managed to contain the country's Covid-19 pandemic​ in a period of time ahead of other countries.
With the Philippines starting "with zero" at the start of the pandemic and almost "floating, waiting for the next thing to happen," Duterte also marvelled at how the country already seems to be ending its "big problem" with the virus while other countries are still grappling despite being the first ones to get the vaccines.
"Marami kasing countries na with the sense of bravado. Eh they did away with the one single important really of limiting the contamination in the air," Duterte said during his public address Monday night, referring to masking.
"If I were to judge myself, the one single thing that my government did was to contain Covid-19 in a very much earlier span of time. And to think na iyong iba sa ngayon nagkakaroon ng (other countries are experiencing) surge simply because maybe the citizens of that country do not want to follow regulations," he added.
The President also said that the Philippines has already revived its economy as workers started going outside and working again.
"Kaya makita mo yung ano. Hindi naman tayo nagmamalaki (So as you can see, we are not bragging but we are) the fastest-growing economy sa ASEAN. Hindi man natin akala (We do not expect that)," he added.
Duterte thanked the officials he appointed to lead the government's various Covid-19-related task forces for "a job well done" as well as for being "there all the time."
"When we retire and we remember the years that we were still active in governance, maalaala mo pagtanda mo you have to look back in time in the hindsight and you would feel proud of yourself," he told them.
The outgoing President also lauded China for its kindness to assure the country of vaccines although it did not have enough money to secure supplies.
"And one day without us really expecting it, China announced that they're shipping to the Philippines vaccinations—vaccines to start the—iyong panlaban natin (our protection), the wall against the Covid-19," he added.