Angel Locsin (Image: Facebook/@AngelLocsin)
Actress-philanthropist Angel Locsin called out President Rodrigo Duterte’s remark seemingly belittling the COVID-19 pandemic in a briefing last Monday, March 15.
“Maliit na bagay? Baka po sa inyo, sir. Para sa amin po kasi malaki (Just a small thing? Maybe to you, sir. But for us it is a big deal),” Locsin said via Instagram Stories yesterday, March 17.
“Malaking utang. Malaking taas ng cases. Malaking human rights violations (A large debt. A large increase in cases. A large number of human rights violations),” she stressed.
Image: screegrab from Instagram/@therealangellocsin
Locsin’s Instagram Story also came with a transcript of Duterte’s quote from the said briefing, which reads, “Do not despair. Kaya natin tong COVID na ito. Maliit na bagay ito sa buhay natin. Marami tayong dinaanan mas ano, mas grabe, mas mahirap mas magluluha kayo… Lahat kayo ‘wag matakot.”
(Do not despair. We can take on this COVID. This is just a small thing in our lives. We had been through a lot of things that were more serious, more difficult, and made us cry more. So do not be afraid.)
The country yesterday breached the 60,000-mark of active COVID-19 cases after the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 4,387 additional infections. This brought up the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 635,698 in the Philippines. In an effort to respond to the said health crisis, the country’s outstanding debt has risen to P10.33 trillion as of January 2021.
The Philippines had the highest additional cases logged so far this year on March 15 with 5,404 infections, a year after Metro Manila was put under quarantine. OCTA Research, meanwhile, warned that daily coronavirus cases could further increase to 10,000 to 11,000 by the end of March.
The DOH claimed on March 8 that the increase in cases was due to the public’s failure to follow health protocols against the spread of COVID-19. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, on the same day claimed that the government’s COVID-19 response had been “excellent.”
Locsin, among several other celebrities, has been vocal in calling out the government’s response to the global health crisis. She and other stars have also been active in helping out hospitals and the public to combat the spread of the virus by providing aid and starting fundraising initiatives. /ra
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