Former “Goin’ Bulilit” actor John Vladimir Manalo on Tuesday highlighted the government’s recent activities that are not related to help the country cope with the COVID-19 pandemic in a video he shared on Twitter.
In the minute-long video clip, Manalo, pondered on the reason for the continued rise of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines.
Baka nasa atin na ang problema? pic.twitter.com/y5LWYZVs6B
— John Vladimir Manalo (@manalojohn) July 7, 2020
“Meron na tayong 46,333 COVID-19 cases dito sa Pilipinas. Ang di ko lang maintindihan, ginagawa naman ng gobyerno lahat ng makakaya nila. Pero bakit di pa rin bumababa ang cases natin?” Manalo asked.
He cited the following activities, which also made headlines, as the national government’s supposed “efforts” to fight the deadly virus in the country.
- The ABS-CBN shutdown last May as well as the cease-and-desist order against Sky Direct and TV Plus services last June 30 which cost the livelihood of at least 11,000 employees
- The passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 despite widespread opposition over fears that some of the provisions are unconstitutional and violate basic rights
- Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s recent Subic trip and encounter with the dolphins which was perceived insensitive by the public
Manalo then quipped that the last hope might be to change the name of the country’s main gateway from Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas (PaPaPi) which was proposed by the president’s son Paolo Duterte.
He also made a sarcastic remark that the problem might be the Filipinos, which was also often the same argument presented by supporters of the Duterte administration.
“Sobrang nagtataka lang ako e ginagawa naman ng gobyerno lahat. Ano pa bang pagkukulang nila? Bakit natin sila palaging binabatikos? E ginagawa naman nila ang trabaho nila. Di kaya, baka nasa sa atin na ang problema,” he said.
The caption read: “Baka nasa atin na ang problema?”
As of writing, the video has earned more than 227,300 views. Meanwhile, the video was retweeted 9,900 times on the microblogging platform and earned more than 22,800 likes.
Manalo was among the celebrities who had been vocal in expressing his dissent against shutdown of his former home network.
Aside from his video on COVID-19 response, Manalo also recently uploaded a video of an analogy explaining the inherited national debt of the Philippines as well as a satirical video on presidential Harry Roque‘s pronouncement that the country has beaten the 40,000 cases prediction last month.
Utang ng Pilipinas. A must watch. pic.twitter.com/8aURSPD7tw
— John Vladimir Manalo (@manalojohn) July 4, 2020
We beat UP. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/G6NOlCOsvi
— John Vladimir Manalo (@manalojohn) July 1, 2020
As of July 7, the Department of Health reported 47,873 confirmed cases with 34,178 active ones and 1,309 deaths.
The health department also recorded 12,386 reccoveries.
Despite the surge in cases that also met the previous prediction of researchers from the University of the Philippines, Roque reiterated in a virtual press briefing on Tuesday his previous position that the country is winning against the pandemic.
“Habang hindi namamatay ang tao at habang may kapasidad tayong magbigay ng medikal na lunas sa mga nagkakasakit, hindi ko po matatanggap na tayo’y hindi nananalo sa sakit na ito,” he said.
Roque also tried to allay the public’s fears by telling them to dance around the worsening situation.
“Some will say kinakailangan nating sayawan ang COVID-19 kasi sa Pilipino, when you have to live with something, ‘sayawan mo na lang.’ Pero ‘yan po ang gagawin natin – sasayawan po natin, we have to deal with COVID-19,” he said.
