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Netizens react to Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘maliit na bagay’ statement about COVID-19; Palace comes to the rescue

Palace spokesperson Harry Roque comes to Duterte’s aid anew, this time explaining why the president described COVID-19 as “maliit na bagay”.

Netizens were having none of Palace spokesperson Harry Roque’s explanations after President Rodrigo Duterte called the COVID-19 global pandemic a “small thing” during his most recent late-night public address speech.

According to Roque, Duterte wasn’t referring to COVID-19 as a small thing; rather, he was referring to how our country has “fared better” compared to other countries.

“We have been spared from even more deaths that more developed countries have experienced—countries who have funding for healthcare,” Roque said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Netizens, however, were having none of it, as Roque’s defense came after the fact.

Some questioned whether Duterte and the heads of the Inter-Agency Task Force for managing Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) actually know what they are doing.

Others would call out Duterte himself for “slowly killing” Filipinos. This comes after the one-year anniversary of the lockdown where people have not only lost jobs but lives.

Perhaps film director Tonette Jadaone expressed the nation’s disgust best at Duterte’s remark.

Even this netizen could not hide her disgust at Duterte’s off-the-cuff remark “meant to lighten the mood” and “raise Filipino’s morale”.

Detained Sen. Leila De Lima, one of Duterte’s biggest critics, managed to phrase netizens’ disgust in a more polite tone.

One netizen did, however, show what Roque would be doing the moment his daily Laging Handa media briefing would start.

Netizens also wondered how Duterte still needs a “translator” four and a half years into his presidency.

https://twitter.com/anuna_deegee/status/1371781170426310659

https://twitter.com/akosivhilly/status/1371790824950796298

https://twitter.com/prinsipedoy/status/1371791126131216385

This latest “translation” would be Roque’s latest attempt at explaining what Duterte has said on live TV.

Earlier this month, he would explain how the Duterte administration has championed women’s rights better than any other administration, though he would be put down by netizens.

He would also defend Duterte’s shoot-to-kill order against “armed communist rebels”, saying the country was “at war” and that it was not against international law to kill an armed combatant.

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