MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte warned the public against online scammers who sell face masks and rip off customers at the height of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Speaking to members of his Cabinet during an inter-agency meeting late Thursday, Duterte said the chances of getting a supply of face masks are higher from robbers rather than from legitimate online sellers.?“Dito kayo sa Maynila, sa mga holdupper puwede pa. Puwede kayong bumili. Mayroon pa ’yang p***** i**** stock ng mga animal na ‘yan. Wala dito. So be careful about... Lokohan ‘to ngayon,” he said during the meeting, which was pre-recorded and aired Friday morning by state-run television station PTV-4.
“I’d like to address this to everybody: my fellow countrymen, do not fall for that thing online-online. It has never been perfected. And all the scams that man could think of that they can perpetuate on the innocent public, pinag-aaralan nila ’yan (they study that),” he said.
Duterte even had an unconventional suggestion on how to deal with scammers: tie them up and drown them in the murky waters of the Pasig River. Such practice has supposedly been employed by gangsters and abusive cops.
If he were to do it, Duterte said he would not hesitate to push bad guys – who take advantage of the misery of people – into the Pasig River.