Photo from Gabriela Women’s Party/ Facebook
Malacañang on Thursday called on the government’s critics to refrain from protesting on the streets amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Pilipino pa rin po kayo, obligasyon pa rin naming itaguyod ang inyong kalusugan, huwag pong magtipun-tipon. Ayaw namin kayong ma-Covid,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a virtual presser.
Roque made the statement a day after dissenters celebrated the National Day of Defiance and National Peasant Month through public protests where they called for the junking of the Anti-Terrorism Law and Rice Tariffication laws, and President Rodrigo Duterte’s resignation.
“Alam ninyo po ang karapatan ng malayang pananalita ay garantiyado po ng ating Saligang Batas. Gayun pa man, ang aking pakiusap lang po, panahon po ng Covid at kahit kayo po ay lumalaban at kalaban ng gobyerno, pinangangalagaan po namin ang inyong kalusugan,” Roque said.
“So ang pakiusap po, sundin natin, hanggang sampung tao lang po ang pagtitipun-tipon dahil ayaw po namin kayong magkasakit,” he added.
The government has banned mass gatherings to contain the spread of Covid-19, which has infected 363,888 Filipinos as of Oct. 22. John Ezekiel J. Hirro