Senator Bong, erstwhile right hand man of President Duterte and now strongest ally in the senate, has appealed to thhe government to do everything to help alleviate the hardship the people are experiencing because of the pandemic.

In a statement, Go, as Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, reiterated his urgent appeals to the government to do everything it can to ease the burden of the people and to save lives. “Kahit ano pa mang quarantine restrictions ang iimplementa natin, mas importante dito ang disiplina, pag-iingat, at kooperasyon ng lahat. Sumunod tayo sa mga itinakdang health protocols para maging matagumpay ang ating mga hakbang na mapigilan ang pagkalat ng COVID-19 habang ibinabalik ang sigla ng ating ekonomiya,” Go said.

Go went on to explain that the new quarantine is aimed at controlling the spread of the virus and needs the cooperation of everyone. “Ang bagong community quarantine guidelines na naaprubahan, kasama ang pag-implementa ng MECQ sa NCR Plus areas umpisa ngayong Lunes, ay hindi nangangahulugan na magiging kampante na tayo. Ang layunin ng nakaraang ECQ na limitahan ang galaw ng mga tao upang maiwasan ang pagkalat ng sakit ay nandiyan pa rin. May konting adjustments lang sa mga patakaran upang masigurong umaandar ang ekonomiya at hindi aabot sa punto na tuluyang mamatay ang kabuhayan ng mga tao,” Go explained.

The Senator also lined up a series of suggestions that the government can do to help in their efforts.

He said that aside from quarantine restrictions, there should also be a concerted effort to do the following:

(1) expedite the expansion of health facilities and construction of modular hospitals to accommodate severe and critical COVID-19 cases;
(2) augment medical frontliners from other regions to help in critical areas;
(3) accelerate vaccination in accordance with the vaccine prioritization list;
(4) strengthen COVID-19 testing and contact tracing efforts;
(5) maximize available technologies to unburden the health system, particularly through e-health initiatives; (5) expedite processing of PhilHealth services and payments;
(6) distribute efficiently the new Supplemental Amelioration Program and other forms of government assistance to all identified beneficiaries; and
(7) adopt alternative work arrangements to ensure safety of the working sector, among others.