After facing intense public backlash, Senator Cynthia Villar said her controversial “work harder” remark was not aimed at medical professionals fighting the coronavirus pandemic, but at government, particularly the Department of Health (DOH). 

“We have to work harder and better, but I am not referring in particular to the medical workers – our frontliners. We are referring to all of us and DOH and PhilHealth in particular,” the billionaire-turned-senator said in a statement on Sunday, August 2.

“There is so much room for improvement in the government’s response to curb the transmission of the disease,” added Villar.

Villar stirred public outrage after she said in a DWIZ radio interview on Saturday, August 1, that frontliners – already overwhelmed by the COVID-19 crisis gripping the country – “need to work hard” to fight the pandemic. 

“May time in our lives na ikaw talaga ang mapapagod. Iba-iba naman ang kalamidad. So itong kalamidad na ito ang mapapagod dito ang health frontliners natin. Iba-iba ‘yan, but I guess we need to work hard,” said the senator in the interview based on a transcript provided by her office.

(There are times in our lives when it’s our turn to get tired. There are different calamities. So in this calamity, it’s the health frontliners who will get tired. At times it’s different, but I guess we need to work hard.) 

Villar also said in the same radio interview that the DOH and other government agencies need to do a “better job” of reviving the economy.

“Pagbutihin nila trabaho nila. Hindi puwedeng isara ang ekonomiya kasi kung ‘di naman mamamatay sa COVID, mamamatay naman sa gutom ang tao,” she said. 

(They need to do a better job. We can’t close the economy because if people aren’t going to die of COVID-19, they would die of hunger.)

A question of transcripts

The transcript from Villar’s office did not include the complete questions of anchor Cely Ortega Bueno, which would have provided the context for the senator’s answers.

However, it included the question where Villar said that the DOH and other agencies should do a better job, instead of shutting down the economy during a lockdown:

Bueno: GCQ pa rin Metro Manila, makaka-recover ba economy?

Villar: We have to live with COVID-19. Hindi natin pwedeng isara ang ekonomiya, kailangan pag-igihin ng DOH at iba pang agency ang kanilang hakbang. Pwede na ang parang lockdown. Kapag lockdown kasi magsa-suffer ang ekonomiya. I guess we have to live with COVID-19. Kaya nga ako namimigay ng tarp na nagpapaalala sa mga tao ng protocols, namimigay din ng mask. I guess we have to live with this and go on with our lives.

Rappler tried to look for Villar’s original DWIZ interview, but the livestream on DWIZ’s YouTube channel labeled as “started streaming on Aug 1, 2020” was ongoing as of Sunday afternoon and its shows aired on Saturday could not be accessed.

Rappler instead transcribed the 1:41 clip of the senator’s DWIZ interview with Bueno that spread on social media on Saturday. The clip does not include the question where Villar referred to the DOH:

Bueno: So Ma’am may panawagan po ang ilang samahan ng mga doctors na ibalik daw ho na ilagay ulit ang Metro Manila sa enhanced community quarantine o ECQ. Kumporme po ba kayo dun o hindi?

Villar: Hindi na siguro, oo, pagbutihin nila trabaho nila, oo. Hindi pwedeng isara ang ekonomiya kasi kung hindi naman mamatay sa COVID, mamatay naman ng gutom ang mga tao.

Bueno: Kasi ho yata ang concern nila parang halos marami nang hospital ang nasa danger zone na ‘yung hospital bed capacity…

Villar: Ah kasi konti lang ang inilalagay nila na for COVID. Nire-require yata sila ngayon na 30% of their beds should be allocated for COVID. Siyempre kung 10% lang binigay mo, madaling mapuno ‘yun. Atsaka magbi-build din ng mga facility ang government na ito naman para do’n sa mga asymptomatic at mild cases. Hindi naman lahat napunta sa ospital, 5% lang ang napunta sa ospital eh.

Bueno: Uh-huh… At sa tingin ‘nyo ‘yung panawagan na ‘yun ng mga doctors, kasi ang mga doctors yata minsan kulang naman sa suporta ang government pagdating sa mga PPEs, marami na rin nagkakasakit, pagod na pagod na rin daw ho ilang mga nurses and mga doctors dahil talagang sa dami ng pasyente so…

Villar: I guess may time sa our lives na ikaw talaga ‘yung ano eh, ang mapapagod. Iba-iba ang kalamidad, ‘di ba? So itong kalamidad na ito eh talagang ito eh ang mapapagod dito ay mga doctors natin, ‘yung mga health…

Bueno: Medical…

Villar: ‘Yung health frontliners natin. Iba-iba ‘yan, oo, but I guess we have to work hard…

Villar’s controversial statements came on the same day the country’s medical community made an urgent plea to President Rodrigo Duterte to enforce a two-week lockdown in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces amid an unprecedented surge in the country’s COVID-19 cases.

As of Sunday, August 2, the Philippines has tallied over 103,000 COVID-19 cases. (READ: PH coronavirus cases jump past 103,000, with over 5,000 in 1 day)

Duterte was set to meet with his key Cabinet officials on Sunday afternoon to discuss the frontliners’ plea for help.

This is not the first time Villar came under fire for an insensitive remark.

The country’s richest senator apologized in May this year after saying the government should not extend help to middle-class families affected by the coronavirus pandemic since they were getting by. – with a report from Nikko Dizon/Rappler.com