In his attempt to address the issue, he added some personal comments on the “no contact policy.” He said, “Ayoko ng ‘no contact policy,’ ’di pwedeng sila lang makayakap sa babae. (I don’t want a ‘no contact policy,’ they can’t be the only ones that could embrace women.)”
This prompted Gabriela Women’s Party to address it on Twitter. The organization wrote, “Pres. Duterte proves that he is incapable of providing any substantial plan to address the COVID-19 outbreak.” They even continued by saying how the president could only bring misogyny to the table.
Replies to the tweet are mostly criticism aimed at the president, pointing out his insensitivity. There are even some who think his joke is the government’s way of covering up the fact that there is a “lack of effective infectious disease countermeasure.”
Hopefully the government properly addresses the issue rather than beating around the bush. The people deserve to know proper information on how to prevent catching the virus and be protected by the people they trusted and voted. It’s also best for the government to be transparent with new cases and their origins to help the public be aware of what’s really going on.
Photo screengrabbed from the Presidential Communication’s Facebook page
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