On the last day of April 2021, as the Philippines passed one million COVID-19 cases, a health official pushed back against a government narrative that the country was faring better than its neighbors. The argument, she suggested, rests on a question of fairness: to rank nations by who is more miserable is to measure suffering rather than learning from it. Her view is that a comparison has value only when it points toward the countries that are succeeding, so that a struggling nation can see what is working and what remains undone.
DOH Calls Comparing PH to Other Countries on 'Misery' Unfair, Urges Benchmarking Against Successes
The Philippines reached one million COVID-19 cases amid a high caseload and deaths, with vaccine rollout slowed by a global supply problem.
Which of the two countries is more miserable
Mark
Why does a remark about 'misery' matter this much?
Mimi
Because it landed right after a leaked memo showed the president told a state news agency to stress that the Philippines was faring better. Vergeire was answering that framing, even if she didn't name it.
Luke
Careful there. The report says she addressed comparisons generally. It doesn't quote her naming the memo or Roque, so the link is the timing, not her words.
Mark
Fair. What was her actual objection?
Mimi
That comparing deaths per 100,000 against other countries turns into asking who is more miserable. She called that unacceptable for the Philippines and for the other countries too.
Mark
Is she against comparison altogether?
Mimi
No. She said it's fine, even useful academically, to monitor performance. She wants the benchmark to be countries doing well, so the Philippines can adopt best practices and see what needs doing.
Luke
Roque's claim, high cases but low deaths, is reported as his statement. This piece doesn't give death figures or verify the ranking, so we can't say whether it holds.
Mark
What's the backdrop?
Mimi
One million total cases this week, and a slow vaccine rollout the report blames on a global supply problem.
Luke
And what the government will do with her advice is unknown. Nothing here says the messaging policy has changed.
El Pulso
- A leaked memo ordering officials to stress that the Philippines was faring better has set off a public dispute over how the country's pandemic record should be framed.
- Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque's claim of high cases but low deaths has collided with a health undersecretary's insistence that such rankings are unfair and unacceptable.
- The country's million-case milestone lands while vaccine rollout crawls forward, constrained by a global supply shortage.
- The government is now being pressed to choose between messaging about relative standing and benchmarking against successful nations that can guide what comes next.
On the last day of April 2021, as the Philippines passed one million COVID-19 cases, a health official pushed back against a government narrative that the country was faring better than its neighbors. The argument, she suggested, rests on a question of fairness: to rank nations by who is more miserable is to measure suffering rather than learning from it. Her view is that a comparison has value only when it points toward the countries that are succeeding, so that a struggling nation can see what is working and what remains undone.
On Friday, April 30, 2021, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire stood before reporters at a virtual briefing and was asked about a argument coming from Malacañang: that the Philippines was doing better than other countries in the pandemic. Her answer was plain. Ranking nations by who is more miserable, she said, is not a fair way to measure anything.
The question traced back to a memo that leaked online. The Presidential Communications Operations Office confirmed that President Rodrigo Duterte had directed a government news agency to stress that the Philippines was faring better than other countries. The office did not dispute the leak. Days earlier, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque had made a similar case, acknowledging high case numbers but pointing to a low death ranking.
Vergeire did not name the memo or Roque, but she took apart the logic behind them. Setting deaths per 100,000 people in the Philippines against the same figure abroad, she argued, shows only which country is more miserable, and that is unacceptable for both sides. She did not reject comparison itself. In academic settings, she said, it is a legitimate tool for monitoring performance. Her objection was to the yardstick: she would rather measure the country against nations doing well, which lets officials see trends, track progress, and adopt practices that have worked.
The remarks came as the Philippines reached a total of one million COVID-19 cases, with a high caseload still weighing on the country and vaccine rollout moving slowly because of a global supply problem. What remains to be seen is whether public messaging follows the directive to stress relative performance, or shifts toward the benchmarking Vergeire described, while people continue to judge the government by case counts and vaccine doses.
On Friday, April 30, 2021, at a virtual briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire was asked about a line of argument coming out of Malacañang: that the Philippines is doing better than other countries in the pandemic. Her answer was that ranking nations by who is more miserable is not a fair way to measure anything.
The question grew out of a memo that leaked online. The Presidential Communications Operations Office confirmed that President Rodrigo Duterte had directed a government news agency to stress that the Philippines was faring better than other countries. The leak made the instruction public, and the office did not dispute it.
On Thursday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque had made a version of the same case. He acknowledged that the country has a high number of COVID-19 cases, but said it ranks low when it comes to deaths.
Vergeire did not name the memo or Roque in the remarks reported here, but she addressed the logic behind them. She asked whether it is fair to the other country being used as the comparison. She described the exercise as setting deaths per 100,000 people in the Philippines against the same figure abroad. In her words, it is not acceptable for the Philippines, and not acceptable for the other countries either, because it amounts to showing which of two countries is more miserable.
She did not rule out comparison itself. Vergeire said that, technically, comparing countries is acceptable, particularly in academic settings, where it is used to monitor and evaluate performance. Her objection was to the choice of yardstick. She said she would rather the Philippines be measured against countries that are doing better than against those that are struggling.
By that standard, she said, there is no problem. The government adopts best practices from other countries when it sees that something has worked. Comparing against successful implementation, she said, lets officials see trends, see progress, and see what still needs to be done.
The comments came at a hard moment. The Philippines is still dealing with a high number of COVID-19 cases, and its vaccine rollout has been relatively slow because of a global supply problem. The country reached a total of 1 million COVID-19 cases this week.
What to watch is whether the government's public messaging follows the PCOO directive to emphasize relative performance, or shifts toward the benchmarking Vergeire described, as vaccine supply and case counts remain the measures most people will judge it by.
Citas Notables
Comparing with countries that have successful implementation is not a problem; the government adopts best practices from them.— Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire
The Philippines has a high number of cases but ranks low when it comes to deaths.— Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque (paraphrased)
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Politics & Governance