With his establishment credentials and obvious lack of intemperance, former Economic Planning secretary Ernesto Pernia is beyond the harsh and brutal blowback routinely given to government critics. And because his resignation was based on disagreements over policy responses, he can’t be accused of sour graping either. So, we still don’t know how the government people would react to his Labor Day tweet: “Lack of virtuous impatience, also known as sense of urgency, has clearly shone in responding to and managing the pandemic.”

How true.  And, with deftness and grace, Mr. Pernia framed his indictment of the government’s Covid-19 response in language so civil that it can’t be flagged by professional and state-sanctioned hate groups, the Red-tagging groups specifically. The government trolls may even drool over the words “virtuous impatience” and log it under “pro-government.” The trolls, usually brain-dead, may even think it was poetry written in the service of the Duterte administration.

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