Duterte: Face masks remain until end of my term

President Rodrigo Duterte. PIA File Photo

As the government urged Filipinos to take its vaccination program, particularly the booster shots, President Rodrigo Duterte added that he will not lift the face mask mandate until the end of his term.

“Ako I’ll just state my case…there is no way na masks will not be required. it will be a part of the protocol for a long time until my last day in office. Yan ang order ko at yan ang sundin ninyo,” Dutete said.

In his Talk to the People on Monday, the President reminded the public to maintain the strict observance of minimum health standards despite the decline in COVID-19 infections. Duterte asked Filipinos to avoid complacency.

Duterte cited the importance of wearing face masks as the country might experience a surge of COVID-19 in the next two months due to campaign period for the 2022 Election and observance of religious events.

“It was a reckless move to stop urging people to wear masks. Yun ang attitude nila pero tayo dito, sabihin ko lang di tayo mayaman we can hardly afford to meet another wave of the pandemic,” Duterte reiterated.

Based on the report of Department of Health (DOH), other countries like South Korea, Thailand, China and some European countries experienced COVID-19 surge after lifting some health protocols.

“We just have to be very careful and I’d like you to maintain ‘yung mga protocols which have been proven to help us a lot in combating the virus,” Duterte said.

Duterte reiterated the need for the unvaccinated to avail the vaccine.

“So let me just appeal to everybody: get vaccinated or else we will not be able to solve the problem because ‘yung nabakunahan na, there is always the distinct possibility of ma-contaminate sila ulit. There is no guarantee that there’s — it’s not even a 90 percent guarantee that you will be immune from this virus,” Duterte added.

Meanwhile, Duterte ordered officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to ramp up their COVID-19 vaccination drive and address vaccine hesitancy in some areas.  (PIA)