COVID-19 Updates: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte Press Briefing | October 14, 2020

October 16, 2020

As of October 14, 2020, 11:00 PM, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte addressed the nation through a recorded speech to provide updates on the COVID-19 situation. Below are the highlights of the briefing:

• The briefing started with Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III explaining that as the country’s confirmed cases exceeds 340,000, these patients have already developed their own antibodies or what he called “natural immunity” from COVID-19.
  • He said that, theoretically, these antibodies will serve as their own protection from the virus for a lifetime, but there is still no evidence to support this as the virus is still evolving.
• Presidential Advisor on Peace Process and National Task Force COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. reported that the decrease in the number of cases in the country has been caused by a change in behavior among Filipinos. He believes that it may have been caused by infomercials like Ingat Buhay Para sa Hanapbuhay and Ingat Angat Tayong Lahat which have resonated with FIlipinos.
• Sec. Galvez provided updates from Cebu where they have had no casualties in the past week and has been performing well since they were placed under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) last September 1.
  • He reiterated the importance of having that change in behavior among Filipinos to unite everyone in the fight against the pandemic.
  • He highlighted the strengthened strategy of Test, Trace, Isolate and Treat, which has been gaining traction among the different local government units (LGUs).
• Sec. Galvez reported that the 32,000 Filipinos in home quarantine from the National Capital Region (NCR), Region IV-A, and Region III have already been transferred to isolation facilities and hotels.
  • He also commended LGUs in NCR as their active cases have decreased from 20,000 in September to 7,830 today, as reported by Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Jojo Garcia.
  • He also reported that cases in Bataan have gone down from 800 to 300.
• Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Eduardo Año confirmed that there has indeed been a change in the behavior among LGUs. He also reiterated the importance of immediate contact tracing within 24 hours should there be confirmed cases and have those who have been in close contact with them in quarantine as well.
  • He highlighted that LGUs are now more open to communicating their COVID situation, immediately reaching out to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for additional help and correspondence.
• Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana reported that as of October 14, over 254,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have already been repatriated and have been sent home to their respective localities.
  • Over 3,000 OFWs are waiting to come home from Sabah, where a  lockdown was  declared due to increased COVID-19 cases.
  • He added that Zamboanga, Jolo, and Tawi-Tawi have also stopped accepting returning OFWs because their confirmed cases are also increasing.
• Sec. Año reported that in relation to their goal of securing 50,000 contact tracers, they received 64,442 applications, 41,068 of which are qualified. He added that 34,057 have already been deployed while 23,974 are already in training. They are targeting to complete this within October.
• On telco applications, Sec. Año reported an increase in the approved applications as well as faster approvals from respective LGUs.
• Sec. Año also reported that last August 21, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has already destroyed 1.2 tons of illegal drugs while the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) destroyed 600 kilos, all amounting to Php 8.16 billion.
  • The PNP is also expected to destroy 369.69 kilos of illegal drugs from Cavite while another 700 kilos are already being prepared for destruction while a final order from the court is being secured.
• PRRD said that if there are a lot of drugs involved, authorities must conduct three rounds of testing immediately and once identified as illegal, they should be destroyed within 24 hours regardless of where they are from.
  • Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque added that he was in touch with Deputy Court Administrator Raul Villanueva and has confirmed that once drugs in question or under investigation have been verified as illegal, immediate destruction follows.
  • Sec. Roque confirmed with the Supreme Court that it is not bypassing the Executive and Legislative branches as the court circular they issued are on drugs that are not in storage. The process then is to test, do inventory, and to destroy immediately.
• PRRD expressed his intentions of chasing after criminals during the last two years of his term. He shared that there has been an upsurge in crimes because of the liberty offered by opening the economy.
  • When it comes to motorcycle-related crimes, PRRD expressed that they are difficult to control as they can easily maneuver between traffic situations, unlike bigger vehicles that can get caught up in traffic.
  • PRRD recommended training highway patrol officers and increasing their mobile capacity by purchasing motorcycles. He also brought up the idea of officers being disguised as civilians as a means of anonymity to fight criminals on ground.
• PRRD shared that he spoke with Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor A. Khovaev and discussed that Russia is interested in establishing a pharmaceutical company in the country which will come with the COVID-19 vaccine that they are developing.
• PRRD assured the public that whether it’s China, Russia, or the US, they are following the same protocols and procedures in testing out their vaccines. He also assured the public that he has already secured the budget for the vaccine, but will continue to look for other sources of funds to support all 113 million Filipinos, without any exception.
  • The priority list starts with the marginalized sector as they do not have the spending capacity for this, then the rest of the public follows.
  • He also shared that his soldiers and the police force will be part of the first batch so they are ready and healthy to ensure the safety and security of the public and the state.
• PRRD expressed his confidence in China in developing a safe vaccine as they are a modern country with integrity.
• PRRD also mentioned the corruption among the contractors of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) when it comes to infrastructure projects.
• PPRD wrapped up his speech by warning the public against drugs and the government’s continued effort to fight against it.

DOH Advisory

As of October 15, 2020, 4:00 PM, the Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 348,698 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 48,040 of which are active cases. Recoveries have been recorded to reach 294,161 while the local death toll has reached 6,497. Overall, the DOH also reported to have tested 4,012,853 individuals.

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