Silence is golden

COMMUNICATION has apparently been an insurmountable challenge for our government leaders this past week, with no fewer than three public controversies caused by ill-considered official remarks. While the individual gaffes may have seemed amusing and ultimately inconsequential, their frequency indicates a dysfunction the Duterte administration should frankly address.

The sequence of verbal missteps began on Tuesday, when Interior Secretary Eduardo Año announced that "state security forces" would be dispatched to search "door-to-door" for persons who have mild or asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus disease 2029 (Covid-19) in order to remove them to government quarantine centers.