Minaliit ng tagapagsalita ni Vice Pres. Leni Robredo ang pahayag ng Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) na gustong pa-imbestigahan ang COVID-19 response ng pangalawang pangulo.
Ayon kay Atty. Barry Gutierrez, katawa-tawa at hindi angkop sa panahon ng krisis ang sinabi ni PACC commissioner Manuelito Luna.
“The PACC statement is so ridiculous, so inappropriate, so out of touch, that I had to verify if it was really true. I am deeply disappointed that it was,” ani Gutierrez.
Inakusahan kasi ni Luna si Robredo ng pakikipag-kompetensya sa pamahalaan dahil sa mga inilunsad nitong tulong tulad ng libreng sakay at dormitoryo sa mga healthcare workers, at pagbili ng dagdag na personal protective equipment.
Giit ng tagapagsalita ni Robredo, lahat ng ginawa ng bise ay bunsod ng nakita nitong pangangailan ng publiko, lalo na ng frontliners.
Katunayan, hindi na raw kinailangan pa ng pangalawang pangulo ng dagdag na kapangyarihan para rito.
“She has mobilized private citizens to procure PPEs for doctors and nurses, organized free transport for those that needed to engage in essential travel, brought extraction kits to the RITM, provided food to police and soldiers manning checkpoints, and set up dormitories so health workers have a place to rest near their hospitals.”
“She has done all this without requesting additional public funds or seeking expanded powers. She did this because she saw a need, and she took action to meet it. She did this because it was the right and responsible thing to do.”
Binanatan din ni Gutierrez ang mga nakikisakay lang din sa sinasabi ng mga opisyal.
“Anyone who insists that bringing much needed assistance to hospitals, health workers, and poor Filipinos is somehow a “competition” has absolutely no understanding of the gravity of the crisis we are all facing.”
Sa kasalukuyan, higit 100 ospital, clinics, at local government units na raw sa buong bansa ang nakinabang sa PPEs na binili ng OVP.
Nasa 500 requests naman ang naka-pending pa.
“Other private initiatives have also done their part. And I am certain that all these groups that have come together to help, the OVP included, would only be too thrilled if national government agencies came in with their larger budgets and bigger organizations to provide all the equipment and supplies that these institutions need.”
Sa kabila ng issue, tiniyak ni Gutierrez na hindi matitinag ang bise presidente at magpapatuloy sa pagtulong nito sa mga apektado ng COVID-19 crisis.
Nitong huling linggo ng Marso nang aprubahan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang Bayanihan to Heal as One Act kung saan target na bigyang solusyon ang lumalalang pagkalat ng COVID-19 sa Pilipinas.
