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The latest unemployment data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority last week is revealing to policy-makers. The unemployment rate significantly dropped to 10 percent in July from a record-high of 17.7 percent in April.

Ironically, the piece of legislation providing for the celebration of National Heroes Day — Republic Act No. 3827, passed by the Philippine Legislature on October 28, 1931 — did not specify any particular hero. And so while we have days of commemoration for Dr. Jose Rizal and Gat Andres Bonifacio, National Heroes Day was really designated to celebrate the courage of nameless and faceless Filipinos who sacrifice their own welfare for others and for the nation.

Criticisms in a democracy are always welcome to help the government uplift the lives of many Filipinos, especially its our battle against Covid-19. But if they are destructive and offer no feasible solutions to the current health crisis, critics should not get in the way of government’s efforts to solve the nation’s problems.