Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the country has positive results in the government's COVID-19 response despite the Philippines placing last for the third time in the Bloomberg's November Resilience Ranking.

"We acknowledge that the data provided by Bloomberg in its COVID-19 Resilience Ranking may be useful in evaluating our pandemic response. The indicators used by Bloomberg include reopening progress, COVID-19 status, and quality of life," Nograles said in a TV interview Wednesday.

"However, we have to consider that the 53 countries in the report have different COVID-19 experiences and strategies. There is little consideration for country-specific COVID-19 context, which in our view is imperative to objectively assess how countries manage pandemic response," he said.

Nograles cited the Bloomberg survey in reopening progress, which involves lockdown severity, flight capacity, and vaccinated travel routes.

''The evidence shows that the Alert Level system and the granular lockdowns that we implemented in November 2021 are some of the key interventions that have enabled us to effectively manage COVID-19 risks while providing for an environment conducive to economic growth," he added.

Nograles said among the positive results in the fight against COVID-19 are the continued fall of cases to 425 as of November 30 which is the "lowest reported in 2021".

The latest positivity rate of 2.1 percent is one of the lowest since testing data became available in April 2020, he added.

He said the case fatality rate of 1.71 percent remains one of the lowest, with the Philippines ranked 84th in the world by the Johns Hopkins University with no overcrowding in hospitals, with metrics of hospital care utilization rate registering all below 30 percent as of November 30, 2021.

Nograles said the Philippines is fifth highest in single-day vaccination rates worldwide, with 2.5 million doses administered during the first day of the national vaccination program.

"It should also be noted that the Philippine economy grew 7.1 percent in the third quarter, “exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg survey and cementing its position as one of the fastest-expanding economies in the world," he said.

"We reiterate that our goal is to strike a balance between the management of COVID-19 and the safe reopening of the economy to protect lives and secure livelihoods. Having said this, our Economic Team will continue to put a greater emphasis on our country-specific conditions or context in order to craft policies that are more responsive to our people’s needs and the requisites of economic recovery," he added. Robina Asido/DMS