THE government’s semantics-based approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic seems to be finally running out of gas in the wake of the latest surge in cases, with a couple of Monday morning’s papers featuring blistering criticism from a number of notable and heretofore generally supportive parties, such as the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and several leading economists at the country’s universities and larger banks.

Reports from media outlets that have been either openly pro-administration or carefully politically neutral have also taken on a distinctly exasperated tone, which just simply reflects the popular mood. It is obvious to almost everyone that the government says is happening and the solutions it is imposing to try to fix it are profoundly disconnected from reality, and a growing number are simply not having it any longer.

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