Secretary of Health Francisco Duque III resorted to blaming ‘token compliance’ when asked by President Rodrigo Duterte if COVID-19 is airborne in a public hearing on Monday.
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| Photo By: Manila Bulletin |
“Iyong mga tinatamaan, Mr. President, either mali ‘yung kanilang pagsuot ng mask, naka…nakaganoon o nakalabas ‘yung ilong, ganoon. Useless ‘yan eh, that is what we call token compliance,” Duque stated.
Meanwhile, doctors expressed their disappointment in social media such as Dr. Gene Nisperos tweeting, “Kung yung mismong Secretary of Health ay hindi masabi with firm conviction na COVID is airborne, ANLAKI na talaga ng problema ng gobyernong ito.”
After Duque’s controversial statement, he then correlated the COVID-19 surge to Christmas celebrations, saying “‘Di ba ang mga tao nag-celebrate sila noong Christmas. Nag-imbita ng mga tao, siyempre kakain ka, tatanggalin mo ‘yung mask mo. Kakain ka tapos mag-uusap kayo,”
After a while, Duterte sought for his facemask while cursing, “Saan na ba yung mask ko? T*ng*na. Bwisit itong Omicron na ‘to.”
The President later admitted that he removes his mask while talking.
“‘Pag ako kasi nagsasalita kasi sa labas, tinatanggal ko [yung mask ko],” he said, inadvertently revealing his ‘token compliance’ that Duque denounced earlier.
In hindsight, the World Health Organization announced that the virus is indeed airborne back in May 2021.