Thread by @incitegov

#ForTheRecord: Inconsistent policies, misplaced priorities and the use of brutal force have defined the government's pandemic response. Where do we find ourselves a year after going through one of the world's strictest and longest lockdown?

The Philippines has logged more than 621,000 cases of COVID-19 a year after its first reported case. But the battle against the coronavirus is far from over with the discovery of four new variants just as the country is loosening up its social restrictions to revive the economy.

The daily number of confirmed cases has been steadily rising in recent weeks; on March 13 alone, 5,000 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded. At this rate, experts project that it can further surge to 8,000 cases per day by the end of March, and 18,000 to 20,000 by mid-April.

The Philippines has managed to ramp up its testing capacity following the accreditation of more laboratories and the availability of test kits, although the process itself is still costly.

Meanwhile, contact tracing efforts remain dismal — "the weakest point in PH's COVID-19 response," according to Palace spokesperson Harry Roque. The government also kicked off its vaccine program among medical frontliners this month with the Sinovac doses donated by China and —

AstraZeneca shots acquired through the global COVAX facility. Key officials are confident that the target of inoculating about 70% of the country's population within 2021 will be achieved, —

but many are still skeptical given the slow-paced rollout and the global uncertainty on vaccine supply. The country aims to secure 148 million doses for around 70 million Filipinos.

The Philippine economy suffered its worst annual decline in 2020 since World War II. The lockdown — recognized as one of the longest and most stringent in the world — forced some businesses to limit their operations while others completely folded up, —

resulting in the loss of jobs of millions of Filipinos. By January 2021, 4 million people remain unemployed. The Philippine government also entered into various loan agreements to aid economic recovery and its pandemic response.

The government enacted two Bayanihan laws as part of its pandemic response. The status and breakdown of COVID-19 releases under both laws as well as from other funding sources can be viewed here: dbm.gov.ph/index.php/prog…