PRESIDENT Duterte is “fine” but is under “perpetual isolation” to ensure he remains uncontaminated with the novel coronavirus, his spokesman Harry Roque yesterday said in a virtual press briefing.
Roque said the President is in good condition, save for the soreness and pain in his nose caused by the regular PCR or swab tests done on him.
Duterte, in Facebook live post of Sen. Christopher Go, said: “Well, as you can see clearly, I’ve been in Davao all along. Umiiwas tayo ng COVID. The admonition is wash your hands, wear a mask, cover your eyes, and stay home. That’s what I did. Andito po ako sa Davao.
Huwag po kayong maniwala.”
Roque said the Presidential Security Group (PSG) has been strictly implementing security and safety measures to ensure that Duterte does not get infected with the virus. Among others, the President is subjected to regular swab testing, he is not allowed to shake hands with his guests and is advised to keep a physical distance of one to two meters from people around him.
“The President is in perpetual isolation because no one can come close to him. I think sinabi ko na sa inyo na (I think I have already told you before that) whenever we meet with him, there is a velvet rope that keeps him at least six feet away from everyone else.
So, no one can really come close to the President,” Roque said.
“He’s in perpetual isolation in the sense that (the) PSG has done a very good job in making sure that no one really comes close to the President,” he added.
Roque said the President will hold his regular meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) from Davao City, where he had been staying since last week with his family.
He will address the public and announce the new community quarantine classifications of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna after the meeting.
Roque reiterated the President is fine, as he denied anew persistent rumors that he was airlifted to Singapore on Saturday afternoon for a supposed emergency treatment in Singapore.
Roque branded as “fake news” reports that a LearJet arrived in Davao City on Saturday afternoon and airlifted the President to Singapore on the same night for a medical emergency.
A group of pictures posted by a Facebook user went viral on Saturday raised speculations that the President was flown to Singapore for treatment. The photo’s caption read: “A LearJet 60 with Serial 7C01D7 and callsign VH-AND operated by Medical Aviation Services, a subsidiary of UK-based Specialist Aviation Services, took off from Singapore Seletar Airport and landed in Davao City today afternoon. It took off from Davao City late this afternoon, presumably bound for Singapore again. Still currently tracking the medical jet, which is now near Sandakan, Sabah. The jet ambulance eventually lands on Seletar Airport at 8:09 p.m.”
Members of the President’s Cabinet were supposed to proceed to Davao on Sunday but had cancelled the trip and would just attend Monday night’s virtual meeting.
Roque said select Cabinet members were observing self quarantine and would take another PCR test after five days, after Interior Eduardo Año tested positive for COVID-19. They took a PCR test before they attended a Cabinet meeting that the President presided over also in Davao City last week.
Go, to support Roque’s denial, on Monday evening posted a photo in his Facebook account showing the President with his family having a meal.
He captioned the photo: “Sa mga nagpapakat ng fake news, makonsensiya naman kayo.
Ang Pangulo ay nasa Pilipinas lamang at handang mag serbisyo sa kapwa Pilipino!!! (To those spreading the fake news, please have a conscience. The President is in the country and is ready to serve the Filipino people) — Kuya Bong Go.
Roque later clarified that his use of “perpetual isolation” was just a figure of speech to highlight the prudence exercised by the PSG to safeguard the physical well-being of the President.
