Amid coronavirus woes, public safety must come first and not political expediency, a Catholic bishop said, according to CBCP News.

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the auxiliary of Manila, said he is hoping that actions taken would be on the side of the common good before anything else.

“The common good and the safety of the people should be the primary consideration of governments and institutions, not political expediencies, much less profit concerns,” he said.

Added to this, he said that the public also deserves to know “true and timely” information about the disease.

This includes, according to him. not only the extent of the spread and the death caused but also those who have recovered and the cures that are being discovered.

“We need not only bad news but also good news, and the latter also abound,” Pabillo said.

“It is important that information is given about the initiatives being taken to show solidarity and concern to all,” he said.

The situation, the bishop also said, calls for prayer and charity, and not discrimination as coronavirus panic spreads.

“All through history, we have seen that plagues have been stopped not only through medical means but also through prayers and great acts of charity,” he added.

The Philippines reported the first coronavirus death outside China on Sunday and also the second confirmed case in the country.

The Catholic Church has earlier issued an “oratio imperata” for the emerging threat of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic in the Philippines.

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