PRESIDENT Duterte is thinking of the country 24/7 and does not need to prove to anyone that he is working, his spokesman Harry Roque said yesterday.
Roque issued the statement after some people said that while photos and videos of the President walking round, jogging, riding a three-wheeled motorcycle and golfing before dawn have flooded traditional and social media but “proof” that Duterte has been working amid the pandemic is lacking.
He stressed that Duterte does not need to prove that he is working, unlike some people who have to come out with photos of them while working to convince the public that they are doing their jobs.
“You know that the President only thinks of the problems of the country. Some only appear in public when they are working. Our President, for 24 hours, 24/7, only thinks of the country,” Roque said.
Roque said he does not understand what other proof the people need to show that Duterte is working, adding he has been making public all recent announcements and decisions on certain issues based on the President’s directives.
He said it was the President who approved the latest quarantine classifications and continues to oversee the vaccine procurement and inoculation programs.
“So the assumption is he needs to be seen in public while he is working. But that is not the style of the President. He does not need to boast to the public that he is working,” he said.
Roque believes that majority still believe in the President, adding the Chief Executive is on top of the situation even if he has not been making any public appearances.
He reiterated that Durerte is in his residence in Malacañang and has not left. Rumors said the President may have flown to Singapore for treatment after his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, flew to Singapore to attend some health wellness program.
Duterte has admitted in the past that he has back problems, migraines, a Barrett’s oesophagus that affects his throat, a Buerger’s disease that causes blockages in the blood vessels, among others.
The President was last seen in public on March 29 when he delivered his Talk to the People speech.
He was supposed to give another Talk to the People speech last April 5 but Roque said it was moved to April 7. Roque later announced that it was moved to another day due after a big number of his close-in security tested positive for COVID-19.
The President is set to deliver his Talk to the People speech last night.
Roque also dismissed as “un-Christian” a question about his quick confinement at the Philippine General Hospital amid the long queues for patients waiting for available rooms and treatment for the deadly virus.
“With all due respects, I think that is an un-Christian question,” said, who has been confined at the PGH since Friday after testing positive anew for the virus.
He did not answer when asked how he was able to quickly secure a room at the PGH ahead of those who were waiting in tents outside or the long queues, with critics alleging that he jumped the line.
Some said questioning Roque for getting supposed priority treatment is not un-Christian but his alleged jumping the line, his alleged using his influence and position to get priority treatment at the hospital amid the pandemic was un-Christian.
Roque was admitted at the PGH last April 9. He said he was brought to the hospital after his oxygen level fell and was confined since then.
The “un-Christian” remark of Roque trended on Twitter, with many netizens questioning and criticizing him for supposedly jumping the line and receiving special treatment.
Dr. Alethea De Guzman, of the Department of Health (DOH) Epidemiology Bureau, said ICU bed utilization rates in 13 cities in the NCR plus bubble have reached high or critical risk level as of April 11, among them the cities of Makati, Malabon, Muntinlupa, San Juan and Taguig and the province of Rizal which all recorded a 100 percent use.
Also included in the ICU utilization high or critical risk level were the cities of Pasig (91 percent), Quezon (89 percent), Mandaluyong (88 percent) Paranaque (88 percent), and Pasay (87 percent), and the provinces of Laguna (86 percent) and Bulacan (84 percent).
