Is the Philippines really 10 steps ahead in its pandemic response?

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has admitted that contact tracing efforts have been the weakest point in the country’s response to the pandemic.

In a briefing, he said contact tracing needs to be automated as COVID-19 cases continue to surge.

“Whatever the program is, we really need to automate because I will have to admit, this is the weakest in our COVID-19 response now, this tracing,” Roque said.

He noted Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong’s observation that there isn’t enough contact tracing done by the government on coronavirus patients.

“Contact tracing is really an area that we have to focus on,” said Roque.

National government agencies and local government have been required by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases last November to utilize the StaySafe.ph in contact tracing even with concerns about the collection of private data.

Roque doesn’t know why the app isn’t being used nearly as much as expected, given that it has been free to download for quite some time.

“Contact tracing is very important because tracing will enable us to isolate close contacts and avoid the spread of the disease. So I would say that an area for tremendous improvement will be the tracing, the use of a tracing app,” he said.

Roque was also on record saying that President Rodrigo Duterte was “ten steps ahead” in terms of identifying the recipients of COVID-19 vaccine.

The vaccines arrived relatively late in the country which had the public questioned the government’s competence.

Roque in the same briefing said local lockdowns may be implemented in areas with rising COVID-19 cases. Nearly 13,000 Filipinos have succumbed to the deadly disease.

If there is a person who is ten steps ahead then that someone would be Vice President Leni Robredo.

Robredo in March last year emphasized the importance of a viable contact tracing program, something the government has yet to establish on a nationwide level.

“Sa bahagi ng pamahalaan, mahalaga na una, transparent kung ano iyong nangyayari; pangalawa, iyong speed ng response napakahalaga, kasi dapat iyong contact tracing mabilis, iyong isolation mabilis…” she said.

Five months later, Robredo once again highlighted the need for a reliable contact tracing app.

“Iyong sa akin lang, sana madaliin natin, kasi ang laking bagay sana na gamitin natin iyong technology para maiwasan itong kahirapang mag-validate, para maiwasan iyong napakaraming discrepancy.”