EDITORIAL-CARTOONS: Skewed priorities
THE EDITOR
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The poorest of the poor
The state and local government units must also devise creative ways to bring relief to the majority of the population. Authorities must respond to the real needs of the population to remain relevant in these trying times. They should start with the poorest of the poor.
READ MORE: https://manilastandard.net/opinion/editorial/320486/the-poorest-of-the-poor.html
PDI Editorial- Recklessness and entitlement
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In many disaster movies, and not just the ones featuring zombies, there is a stock character who serves as an object lesson on the entitlement of the privileged, the ill effects of class differences, and the consequences of stupidity.
In the surreal movie that is our life in these days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the community quarantine and the inept handling of the public health crisis by the government, we have seen both heroes and heels emerge from the scenery. Heroes we have plenty of, most notably the frontliners risking life and health in the service of those in need of timely help. But we have just as many heels, foremost of whom are the self-entitled politicians and members of the elite who think their needs come before everyone else’s.
Meanwhile, in less rarefied circumstances, destitute citizens are picked up willy-nilly for braving the streets of the locked-down metropolis in search of food for their families, some of them subjected to virtual torture by being made to sit under the searing heat of the noontime sun or shoved into dog cages. Some people are indeed luckier than others—none more so than in this pandemic, and under this dispensation.
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EDITORIAL- Skewed priorities
The Department of Health is reassuring the public that no one is getting VIP treatment in the use of scarce testing kits for the coronavirus disease 2019. The DOH reassurance flies in the face of declarations from certain politicians themselves that they took the COVID-19 test even if they were asymptomatic, and that they tested negative.
There are reports that about 34 government officials, most of them without symptoms, were given priority in the testing at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. The VIPs reportedly demanded to get their test results from the RITM within 24 hours, delaying for four days the results of the test on cardiologist Israel Bactol, who died of COVID on March 21.
READ MORE: https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2020/03/27/2003677/editorial-skewed-priorities
One upside of the crisis is that it is showing the public the true nature of supposed servants of the people. It is showing the priorities of politicians, belying their claims of putting the interests of the public ahead of their own.
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BAKIT LIST-
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– Q: Why is the government waiting for DONATION of testing kits ?
– FACT: that billions of pesos is in the pockets of DU30 to buy from suppliers from all over the world.
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EDITORYAL – Nagsulputan ang mga ganid na negosyante
Habang nananalasa ang COVID-19 sa bansa, nananalasa rin ang mga mapagsamantalang negosyante na sobra-sobra kung magtaas ng kanilang produkto. Nagsulputan sila na parang kabute ngayon. Pati sa online ay rumaratsada sila at sobra ang pagsasamantala. Wala na silang iniisip kundi ang kumita ng pera kahit nakaharap ang mamamayan sa krisis dahil sa pagkalat ng coronavirus.
Sinasamantala ng mga mapagsamantala ang sitwasyon. Pati doktor, nagsamantala na rin. Habang may mga doktor na namamatay dahil sa paglaban sa COVID-19, may doktor naman na ang pagkita nang limpak ang nasa utak. Wala na sa kanyang isipan ang sinumpaang tungkulin at ang mahalaga ay kumita.
Paigtingin pa ng DTI ang pagdakma sa mga mapagsamantalang negosyante na nagsulputan sa kasalukuyan. Kasuhan sila at parusahan nang ma-bigat. Walang kapatawaran ang kanilang ginawa. / Pilipino Star Ngayon – March 27, 2020
READ MORE: https://www.philstar.com/pilipino-star ngayon/opinyon/2020/03/27/2003647/editoryal-nagsulputan-ang-mga-ganid-na-negosyante
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The Straits Times says
Extraordinary budget for a critical time
The supplementary budget delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in Parliament yesterday is an extraordinary and timely effort to shore up Singapore’s defences against the medical, economic and social onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. The $48.4 billion announced to support businesses, workers and families, on top of the $6.4 billion offered just weeks ago, signifies the gravity of the economic crisis precipitated by the pandemic. Cumulatively, Singapore is allocating nearly $55 billion, or about 11 per cent of its gross domestic product, to deal with challenges that have come in the wake of Covid-19. Its global spread has led to drastic social lockdowns elsewhere which have had an immediate effect on national economies.
READ MORE: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/extraordinary-budget-for-a-critical-time
In the years since the economy took off after independence, the Government stuck to the stringent principle of not treating the reserves as an easy source of finance for populist measures or to tide over short-term problems that come with changing business cycles. In remaining strict, prudent and principled, a depletion of the reserves has been avoided. This has accounted for a significant reservoir available for use when it becomes necessary to meet only the gravest of challenges. Such a move is clearly justified in these present times. Indeed, the Government is prepared to propose to the President further draws on the savings of past governments if necessary. Singaporeans should take heart from the ingrained prudence which has made it possible for funds to be available at critical moments such as now.
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EDITORIAL- BANGKOK POST:
Govt faces its biggest test
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It’s been nearly three months since the Covid-19 virus hit Thailand, yet the scarcity of face masks is still a national problem and a disgrace to the government. Whether this scarcity is a by-product of incompetency or ignorance, this problem needs to be solved immediately.
In order to fight the outbreak, the government has many challenges ahead — ensuring a sufficient supply of medical and treatment products, ranging from ventilators and Covid-19 test kits to hospital beds.
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With such scarcity, the government needs to dig deep into its pockets and invest more to contain the virus and provide proper treatment to the infected.
READ MORE: https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1887270/govt-faces-its-biggest-test
