MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte emphasized on Monday that face shields should be worn with face masks as a precaution against Covid-19, and that the public should heed his “advice” because they elected him as the country’s leader.
He acknowledged that certain “sectors” believe face shields are unnecessary, but said he wanted to maintain the requirement because he cared about Filipinos’ health and safety.
“Sundin lang ninyo ako. Tutal binoto ninyo akong presidente. Milyon-milyon ang naglike sa akin, ika nga (Just follow my order. You voted for me after all. There are millions who like me, as they say). So ito it’s a[n] advice I’m giving you because I love you as Filipino,” he said in his pre-recorded public address.
Because it is still unknown how Covid-19 enters a person’s body, Duterte stated that it is essential to have an extra layer of protection from the virus.
He acknowledged that wearing face shields is “inconvenient”, but said it is better to be safe than sorry.
In addition to the use of face shields, he stressed the significance of frequent hand-washing after engaging with others.
“It is not discourteous nowadays to wash your hands in public after shaking the hands. It’s not bastos (rude) because that is really the measure that is needed by the times,” he said.
Get immunized
Duterte urged people to get inoculated against Covid-19, claiming the disease “cannot actually prosper” once more people get their jabs.
He cautioned the public about the danger of not adhering to minimum public health standards.
“Kung ayaw ninyo, well pag nahawaan kayo, lalo na itong Delta (If you don’t want to and get infected with the Delta variant), I think you can say goodbye to the world kasi (because) it’s very aggressive, very violent virus that enters your body at uubusin yung lungs mo, pati heart mo (and it’s going to destroy your lungs and heart),” he added.
He claimed that without people’s support, the effort to defeat Covid-19 will fail.
“We’re trying to control the spread of the virus but we can only do so much. Kailangan kayong mga tao, magsunod talaga sa utos ng gobyerno kasi ito para sa kabutihan ninyo. Hindi ito para sa kabutihan namin (You should really follow government orders because this is for your own good. It’s not for our own good),” he said.
As of Monday, 8,900 new Covid-19 infections have been recorded, bringing the total number of cases to 1,667,714.
The number of people who have recovered has risen to 1,560,106 after 7,937 more people have recovered, but the death toll has climbed to 29,128 with six new deaths.
