There is nothing wrong with the late airing of President Rodrigo Duterte’s pre-recorded Talk to the People every Monday night, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque issued the statement, as he defended the airing of Duterte’s taped address to the nation which usually starts late Monday night.

In a virtual presser, Roque said anyone who missed Duterte’s taped Talk to the People can still watch the replay on state-run PTV-4 every Tuesday morning.

“Wala naman pong problema maski ma-ere iyan ng gabi kasi kinabukasan. Nire-replay po iyan ng PTV-4. So, ‘yung mga hindi makakapanuod ng gabi, makakapanuod po sa the following morning (There’s no problem with that because that (Talk to the People) can still be aired the next day. PTV-4 is replaying that. So for those who were unable to watch that every night, they can watch the following morning),” he said.

Duterte usually holds his regular public address every Monday night to inform Filipinos about the updates on the government’s coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) response efforts.

He occasionally moves his Talk to the People to Wednesday or addresses the nation twice, if need be.

Before the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, Duterte’s speeches were usually aired live on PTV-4 and other Facebook pages controlled by the executive branch.

No new quarantine classifications yet

Meantime, Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has yet to come up with quarantine recommendations.

He said the IATF-EID is still assessing the situation in some areas where the current quarantine classification is set to lapse within the week.

“Wala pa pong kahit anong consensus. Bakit? Eh wala pa po kaming nakukuhang (There is no consensus yet. Why? We have yet to receive) report as far as data is concerned,” Roque said.

Roque, nevertheless, maintained that the government’s goal is to achieve “total health” amid the prevailing pandemic.

“So I think we are one in IATF to find that delicate balance of total health. Pero sa ngayon po, kinakailangang makita ang datos (But as of now, we need to see the data) because all the decisions of IATF are data-driven,” he said.

Laguna and Metro Manila have been placed under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the most restrictive community quarantine, until Aug. 20.

Bataan, on the other hand, has been put under ECQ until Aug. 22.

The more relaxed quarantine classifications have been imposed in the rest of the country until the end of the month. (PNA)