It is "not true and conclusive” the Philippines has surpassed Indonesia in having the most coronavirus cases since the country is simply testing three times more than its neighbor, Malacañang said Friday.

According to presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the Philippines has tested 1.5 percent of the population compared to Indonesia’s 0.34 percent, that resulted in the surge in number of infections in the country.

Roque explained that the country managed to detect more people with the illness due to its aggressive testing while Indonesians are supposedly unaware who among them are infected.

"Ang Indonesia po with almost less than same cases as us has 1/3 of the actual testing we have conducted on our people. So 'yun ang aking basis for saying hindi naman totoo at conclusive na mas marami na tayong kaso dito sa Pilipinas, compared to Indonesia. Mas marami lang tayong kaso na nalalaman dito sa Pilipinas  dahil nga three times ang ating testing more to the testing done by Indonesia (Indonesia, with almost less than the same cases as us has 1/3 of the actual testing we have conducted on our people. That's my basis for saying it is not true and conclusive that we have more cases in the Philippines compared to Indonesia. We just know more cases in the Philippines because our testing is three times more to the testing done by Indonesia)," Roque said during a televised press briefing.

"Dahil mas maigting ang ating pagti-test, hindi po totoo na mas maraming kaso tayo kaysa sa Indonesia – hindi lang nalalaman ng mga Indonesian kung sinu-sino iyong mga umiikot na mayroon na pong sakit; at least tayo po, alam natin kung sino na po sila (Because of our intensified testing, it is not true that we have more cases than Indonesia. Indonesians just don't know who among the people going around are infected. At least, we know who they are)," he added.

As of Aug. 6, the Philippines has recorded 119,460 cases of coronavirus while Indonesia's infections reached 118,753.  Indonesia has a population of around 260 million while the Philippines has 110 million.

Roque has tried to downplay the country now has the biggest coronavirus outbreak in the region, saying local coronavirus data is not that bad.

He explained that the country's testing, tracing, and treatment efforts have been expanded in recent months, citing the increase in COVID laboratories and quarantine facilities.

With 100 laboratories now accredited, he said the country has conducted a total COVID tests of 1,643,539, or an average of 28,938 per day.  The country's positive rate is around 9.7 percent.

"May mga nagsasabi na masama daw itong pigura dahil tayo na nga raw po ang pinakamataas – hindi naman po ganoon. Ang ibig sabihin lang nito, alam na natin kung nasaan iyong kalaban nating COVID-19. At ngayong alam na natin kung nasaan na ang COVID-19, pupuwede na po natin silang ma-isolate, pupuwede na nating ma-trace iyong mga nakahalubilo nila, at pupuwede na natin silang gamutin (Some say this number is bad because we have the most cases. That's not true. It only means we know where the COVID-19 enemy is and now that we know, we can trace the contacts, isolate and treat them)," he said.

Metro Manila and four nearby provinces are under modified enhanced community quarantine until Aug. 18 as the government moved to fine-tune its containment strategy following a timeout plea from medical frontliners.