The Economist labels Duterte’s coronavirus response as ‘incompetent’

By Prince Golez

Despite imposing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), President Rodrigo Duterte still fails to get things done, according to The Economist’s Asia column, Banyan.

In its August 29 edition, Banyan underscored Duterte’s “incompetent” response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the Philippines.

“Mr Duterte acted far more quickly, ordering a lockdown of greater Manila, the capital. He called on the army and police to shoot violators of lockdown rules—classic strongman stuff. But in practice, enforcing the rules has fallen more to local governments than to the security forces under the president’s control,” according to the column.

“As it happens, local police and village watchmen armed with staves have often been as heavy-handed as the president could have wished. But that is pure coincidence.

“In practice, the local power-brokers in the periphery of the Philippines—mayors, plantation owners, armed insurgents or drug gangs with friends in the police—do what they like for their own benefit, regardless of what anybody in Manila, including Mr Duterte, instructs. The political apparatus simply is not suited to effective authoritarianism,” it added.

The Economist noted that the overcrowded conditions in Philippine slums have helped spread the world’s deadliest virus, which has now infected more than 25,170,400 people globally.

“[The Duterte government] has put a premium on efficient testing and contact tracing, yet efforts have been scrappy—highlighting how ineffectual the state is,” the article said.

As of Saturday, the country’s Department of Health reported a total of 213,131 cases of Covid-19, with 135,101 recoveries and 3,419 fatalities.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)