MANILA - Malacañang is thankful for the recommendations of Vice President Leni Robredo on the government's pandemic response which she conveyed in a letter this week to the palace, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday.

"Nagpapasalamat po kami sa mga rekomendasyon ni VP," Roque said in Palace press briefing.

"Bagama't sa aking sagot po ay sinabi rin po natin na karamihan po ng kaniyang rekomendasyon ay ipinatutupad na ng IATF (inter-agency task force)," he added.

(We thank the Vice President for her recommendations. Although, in my response, I said that many of her suggestions are already being implemented by the IATF.)

Roque said the Palace would send its response to Robredo within the week.

"Padadala po namin ang aming detalyadong sagot kay VP Leni bago po matapos ang linggong ito," he said.

(We will send our detailed response to the Vice President before this week ends.)

The Palace mouthpiece said Robredo's recommendations were about the government's reporting of cases, and information on public spending.

It can be recalled that Roque previously told Robredo to simply ask him about the government's pandemic response after the opposition leader said there was "not enough information" on how government funds were spent.

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Robredo had also said that the Philippines failed to "act urgently" at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and was still "catching up" with how other countries responded despite imposing one of the longest lockdowns in the world.

The administration has maintained that the government is "in control" of the COVID-19 situation in the country, going as far as claiming that the Philippines is winning the pandemic fight.

As of Thursday, the Philippines has logged 61,266 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which, 38,183 are active.

The country's first case was reported on Jan. 30 in a Chinese woman who arrived from the Chinese city of Wuhan where the disease was first detected.

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