Charles Teves
Only one out of ten Filipinos see no weaknesses in the Duterte administration’s effort to combat the pandemic, said Pulse Asia president Ronald Holmes.
The results suggest that while most are satisfied with the government’s response to the health crisis, only a few agree that it has no room for improvement.
About 2,400 people took part in the survey that ran from June 7 to 16. They were asked, “In your opinion, what is the primary deficiency or weakness of the government in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic?”
Over 19% percent said the lack of aid to the affected by the health crisis while 18.7% said the lack of vaccine supply.
The two were followed by issues associated with health protocols, lack of transparency regarding vaccines, lack of financial support and vaccines, and lack of support for health workers and quarantine facilities.
Most of the subjects from Visayas and Mindanao agree that the government is lackadaisical in providing financial aid, while Luzon respondents mainly said problems related to vaccination should be worked on.
The survey also asked respondents to choose the top three issues they think the government should address first.
Controlling inflation was at the top, followed by the need for an increase in the salaries of various workers. Others said the creation of jobs, poverty reduction, providing help to those affected by the pandemic, controlling the spread of the virus, and fighting against corruption.
A few said focusing on hunger, enforcing proper law and order, promoting peace, combatting criminality, preventing the environment’s destruction, and defending the country’s sovereignty.
Reducing taxes, protecting OFWs, and prepping for terrorism were chosen as concerns as well.
Sen. Bong Go earlier pressured the government to be faster in distributing the vaccines.
“Vaccination is the key in defeating COVID and in going back to our normal lives. Let us do this in a safe and organized manner.” Go said in Filipino.
He urged the public to get immunized when the opportunity comes.
“The faster we inoculate priority groups, the faster we can reach other sectors as well,” he said.
“Like what President Duterte said, it is possible to relax the restrictions and people will be more free to move when they are vaccinated.” Go added.
National Capital Region Police Office chief Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. meanwhile blamed towns outside Metro Manila for congesting vaccination sites recently.
He argued that these residents decided to go to Metro Manila to get vaccinated because their respective LGUs are incompetent.
“Maybe, someone agitated them to get vaccinated in Metro Manila instead. Why should they troop here if the vaccines are available in their places?” he said.
Last week, people were crowding vaccination sites, violating health protocols. Danao said these individuals weren’t from Manila.
“I am not sure if it was a sabotage, I do not know the exact purpose. But they’re there most probably to just discredit their own LGUs for not handling the vaccination program well,” he added.
