President Rodrigo Duterte held a press conference on the nCoV outbreak on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Malacañang. (Photo from an RTVM video)
Updated @ 11:56 p.m., Feb. 3, 2020
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged Filipinos to stop blaming the Chinese for the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV), calling it in bad taste.
“Blaming Chinese is xenophobia,” Duterte said Monday in a press briefing held in Malacañang. “You hate anything that is Chinese, that is not good. China has been kind to us. We can also show the same favor to them.”
“Stop this xenophobia thing. They’re blaming the Chinese who came from China. It can always incubate in some other places,” he added.
Duterte described social media posts urging that the Chinese be sent back home.
“Everyone’s saying, send the Chinese back home. It is not only a case of bad taste, but it is not good for us Filipinos to be saying that,” Duterte said. “Remember that there are now so many Filipinos in China, and they cannot go out because coming in and going out of China is prohibited.”
Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said around 50 Filipinos in Wuhan had already expressed desire to return to the Philippines.
The DFA, however, said their repatriation would be subject to China’s rules on disease containment, including immigration clearances, quarantine process, among others.
Duterte held an emergency meeting with top government officials regarding measures about the deadly virus which has already killed over 300 and infected more than 17,000.
Among those present at the meeting were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Health Secretary Francisco Duque, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año.
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