PCOO CHIEF CALLS ON FILIPINOS TO UNITE AS ONE NATION TO END COVID-19 PANDEMIC

By Jennifer P. Gaitano

Secretary Martin Andanar of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) called on the Filipino people from the different parts of the country to unite as one with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and as one nation in the fight against the dreadful coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“We heal as one as a nation. Let us fight together and go with the direction of President Duterte so we could altogether end this pandemic. We could not do this alone, we need all your support and cooperation,” he said. In time with the secretary’s radio interview over Bombo Radyo Butuan’s Bombo Hanay Bigtime program hosted by Rey Brangan, the communications chief also appealed to the Caraganons and the Filipinos, in general, to continuously give their support to President Duterte and his administration until he finishes his term. further emphasized that the president still has a lot to be done and more developmental programs and projects will be completed to give people an improved way of life.

In the fight against COVID-19, he stressed that the Filipino people should not be complacent considering that the Delta variant is still recorded in some parts of the country. “Whether you are in the remotest areas or in other parts of the country, please

be careful and take precautionary measures against the spread of COVID-19 especially with this Delta variant,” he said.

With regard to the efforts of the government in the fight against COVID-19, Sec. Andanar bared that per the World Health Organization (WHO) the Philippines as a developing country is really doing good. He consequently supported this by citing the latest data in which there are already 38,000,000 million doses of vaccines that have arrived in the country.

“In our fight against the spread of COVID-19, the best thing to do is still to follow the health protocols imposed by the World Health Organization and the Department of Health. The government’s vaccination program is also aimed to protect the people from the dreadful virus,” Andanar said.

According to the secretary, the superspreader Delta variant of COVID-19 has indeed disrupted the supposed recovery of the economy not just in the Philippines but in the whole world.

“President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has done his best in addressing all the issues and concerns of the Filipino people. He continued to lead us the way for the next 11 months until we could fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since his assumption in 2016 until the present, the president has been true to his commitment to solve criminalities, including corruption, the poverty incidence from 24% down to about 14%, but because of this pandemic and some lockdowns, unfortunately, the level turns out high again.

However, despite these challenges, we still need to move forward and let us be one with the president and as one nation because if we will not do this, nothing good will happen to us,” Andanar added. (JPG/ VLG/DMR, PIA-Caraga)