Roque: No victory yet vs virus

The country cannot truly claim victory against COVID-19 until the world finds a safe and effective vaccine or cure to the deadly disease.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the admission a er clarifying his remarks that the country was "winning" the battle against the pandemic.

Roque had earlier congratulated the nation for beating a University of the Philippines forecast on 40,000 cases of coronavirus cases last month, triggering a firestorm of criticisms from some lawmakers and groups for allegedly being misinformed. The country had 37,514 cases of infections at the end of June.

"Kapag sinabi nating nananalo po tayo, dahil nahanda po natin ang ating health system para magbigay lunas sa mga magkakasakit bagamat tama po kayo, hindi talaga tayo mananalo habang walang bakuna, habang walang gamot dito sa sakit na ito," Roque said during a Palace press briefing Thursday.

Roque explained that he was merely celebrating the “small victory” of the country in having cases lower than the UP forecast.

He was reacting to Sen. Nancy Binay's pronouncement that it was premature to declare the country was winning the fight against the pandemic. Binay said there should be a "semblance of normalcy" if the country was indeed winning the fight. Metro Manila's continued general community quarantine status belies Roque's comment, she added.

The country is largely under modified general community quarantine as the government moved to revive the economy and promote livelihood of the people.

Cebu City remained under enhanced community quarantine due to the surge in infections, while Metro Manila kept its GCQ classification until mid-July. Other areas under GCQ are Benguet, Cavite, Rizal, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Leyte, Ormoc, Southern Leyte, Talisay City, and Minglanilla and Consolacion in Cebu.