Contrary to the claims of his critics, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday that the government is doing everything to alleviate the plight of the Filipinos amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In his "Talk to the People," his second for this week, Duterte even said that he can order the police and military to take over the hotels if there are no longer beds for coronavirus disease patients.

"I'd like to just disabuse the mind that we fall short...we did not fall short," he said, recalling that when the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, he immediately formed a task force.

Some quarters have been criticizing the Duterte administration for allegedly doing nothing as cases of COVID-19 continue to increase.

Some COVID-19 patients, particulary in Metro Manila, reportedly died while waiting for their turn to be admitted in the hospitals for treatment.

"I think before it gets better, we have to go to the worst of times. Do not be afraid. Government is working. Government is busy doing everything, not nothing. Government is trying to get the things to fix all of us," Duterte said.

"I am not without power. When we are pushed to the wall, either by the microbe itself or by external, internal, I can always order the military and the police to go there and confiscate the operation of the hotels. And even the medicines, I can go to wherever warehouse there," Duterte said.

However, he acknowledged that taking over of hotels would not be "a remedy desired in a democratic state."

He told the Filipinos not to be afraid.

"We are not really at a loss of what to do. We know what to do," he said.

The government has been trying to negotiate with various COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers for the supply of the vaccines.

However, so far, only China's Sinovac vaccines are available in the country. Celerina Monte/DMS