MANILA – Malacañang had seen enough of Sen. Risa Hontiveros after the latter criticized President Rodrigo Duterte’s handling of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in the country.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Palace is “aghast at the insensitivity” of Hontiveros as he asked the opposition senator to pay attention to the updates being given by the administration on COVID-19.
“Where was she all this time when the President decisively acted on the national grave threat we face by undertaking aggressive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19?” an incensed Panelo said.
“Was she perhaps hard on hearing when she was watching the televised message of the President as commented by one of her colleagues in the Senate? How could she have missed the program articulated by the Chief Executive?” he added.
The Palace spokesperson also lashed out Hontiveros after she opposed the enactment of Republic Act No. 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act”, which gave Duterte additional powers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When the proposed bill was being debated in the Senate, did she not oppose its passage? What was she then opposing in the proposed legislation?” Panelo said.
Hontiveros on Tuesday said that Duterte’s televised report on late Monday had no concrete plans on how the Philippines will address COVID-19. She added that the President “should act with a sense of urgency” following the special powers given to him.
“We urge her to engage in an intelligent and productive discourse and help in the battle against COVID-19 and not to contribute to the misinformation widely peddled in the social media by the purveyors of confusion and panic designed to put the President in a bad light,” Panelo said./PN
