Palace: PH remains committed to WHO, won’t follow Trump’s lead

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government will continue to support the World Health Organization (WHO) even as US President Donald Trump announced he would withhold funding to the international organization due to its alleged missteps in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque, the Philippines stands committed to the WHO amid the health crisis as he noted the organization’s importance in coordinating the world’s thrust against the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which originated in Hubei, China.

“It’s not for the Philippine president to tell other presidents what to do. Pero tayo po suportado natin ang WHO (But we support the WHO). Dahil nakita naman po natin kung walang WHO wala pong namuno sa coordination dito sa laban natin dito sa sakit na COVID-19 (Because we saw that without the WHO, nobody could have led coordination against this ailment, COVID-19),” Roque said in a virtual press briefing Thursday.

“So sana po lahat ng bansa ng daigdig ay ipagpatuloy ang kanilang koordinasyon sa WHO at importante din po ang pagbibigay ng pondo sa WHO (So hopefully all nations will continue to coordinate with the WHO and also, it’s important to give funding to the WHO). As far as the Philippines is concerned, we stand committed to the WHO and we will give our contribution when the need arises.”

To date, the virus has infected over 2 million people worldwide and killed more than 134,600 although over half a million were able to recover.

According to the Johns Hopkins University and Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center, the US has the most COVID-19 cases in the world as of posting time with 639,628 confirmed cases, including 52,699 recoveries and 30,980 deaths.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has 5,453 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 349 deaths and 353 recoveries.

KGA