Jennylyn Mercado bucks Roque’s defense of government’s COVID-19 response

MANILA, Philippines — Jennylyn Mercado on Saturday slammed Palace spokesman Harry Roque as he justified the COVID-19 response of the government.

“If you had taken the right steps, libo-libong Pilipino ang hindi magkakasakit. Luh,” the Kapuso actress said in a tweet in reaction to an Inquirer article about Roque defending the government’s approach to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

(If you had taken the right steps, then thousands of Filipinos would not have been infected.)

If you had taken the right steps, libo libong Pilipino ang hindi magkakasakit. Luh. 🙄 https://t.co/vkCYurCROm

— jennylyn mercado (@MercadoJen) July 18, 2020

Mercado further slammed President Rodrigo Duterte’s mouthpiece for saying that only a “small number” of people succumbed to the serious respiratory illness caused by new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Only a small number died? Hindi lang sila numero. Madaming pamilya ang nawalan ng mga mahal sa buhay. Kotning sensitivity naman po sana.

— jennylyn mercado (@MercadoJen) July 18, 2020

“Only a small number died? Hindi lang sila numero,” the actress subsequently tweeted. “Madaming pamilya ang nawalan ng mga mahal sa buhay. [Konting] sensitivity naman po sana.”

(Only a small number died? They are not just numbers. Many families lost their loved ones. A little sensitivity would help.)

The actress then remembered the lives lost due to COVID-19: “May mga mukha at pangalan sila. Mga storya na hindi pa dapat natapos. My prayers go out to their families.”

May mga mukha at pangalan sila.
Mga storya na hindi pa dapat natapos.

My prayers go out to their families.

— jennylyn mercado (@MercadoJen) July 18, 2020

(They have names and faces. They have stories that should not have ended early. My prayers go out to their families.)

On Friday, Roque said the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was still “effective” because it spared millions from infection.

“It’s working. Because if we didn’t take steps, then millions would have fallen sick from COVID-19 like what UP (the University of the Philippines) initially predicted. It’s working because only a small number died from the disease,” he said.

Experts from UP earlier predicted that the country’s COVID-19 cases will exceed 60,000 by the end of July. Later, the experts revised their projection to 85,000 cases by the end of this month.

As of July 18, however, the Philippines’ COVID-19 caseload already surpassed 65,000. This number includes the recovery of 22,067 patients and the death of 1,773.

KGA