MANILA, Philippines — Interior Undersecretary Martin Diño was not misquoted in news reports about his suggestion of a "shame campaign" to stop the spread of COVID-19 and a review of the Radyo5 interview shows his remarks were not, as he claimed, "misquoted or twisted by some media outlets."
A video of his July 17, 2020 interview on Radyo5's "All Ready" shows that he was talking about the Department of the Interior and Local Government's planned implementation of "Oplan Kalinga", a program to fetch COVID-19 patients who are undergoing home quarantine and bring them to government quarantine facilities when he mentioned the "shame campaign."
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He said that the public should not worry about police rounding up COVID-19 patients since health workers will just ask them to go to a facility.
"Now, if you do not want to go (to the government facility), there is no problem there. But your neighbors will know — because before, it was a secret. We don't know who has the ano, so, basically, it's up to you."
"Now, if it is found that you are asymptomatic or symptomatic, well, your neighbors should know that. Because before, when you leave the house, they will talk to you. They talk to their relatives. That's why maybe it's proper to have a shame campaign."
READ: DILG exec pushes shame campaign vs stubborn COVID-19 patients
In a statement on Monday afternoon, Diño clarified that he was only in support of a "shame campaign" on quarantine violators.
"While I did I mention the need to launch a shame campaign, my suggestion was directed not against COVID-19 patients but against quarantine violators such as those who still refuse to wear face masks, observe physical distancing, and abide by the minimum health standards set by the Department of Health," he wrote.
Diño, who incorrectly claimed in March that the Bill of Rights had been suspended by the pandemic, claimed that "out of my utter disgust and exasperation over such behavior, I told the program hosts that there should be a shame campaign against such individuals for their audacity to disregard the threat of the disease and the preventive measures we have established."
That is not what he said.
"Therefore, I would like to set the record straight that I will never personally champion a mentality of shaming COVID patients nor will the Department of the Interior and Local Government. We will always uphold the rights of patients especially during a global pandemic," he also said Monday.
READ: DILG gives Diño benefit of the doubt, stresses rights not suspended by quarantine
'Pasaway' narrative recycled
The likes of Sen. Koko Pimentel and Police Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, Metro Manila police chief, have drawn the public's furor for also breaking quarantine rules, though the latter has urged the public to move on from the incident after issuing an "apology" that also denied his breach ever happened despite having pictures taken by his own office circulating online.
Yet, blaming the public for shortcomings involving the pandemic has long been a pattern of behavior among government officials.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año himself has asserted that Filipinos are responsible for the rising coronavirus cases, an assertion that contradicts an SWS survey that found that Filipinos take the pandemic seriously and follow health protocols and data from Google that showed most Filipinos stayed home during the quarantine.
Are Filipinos "pasaway" and violate quarantine rules as officials have claimed? Data show we aren't. Mobility data from Google and Apple showed Filipinos staying at home during lockdown. The chart below uses Google Mobility data. pic.twitter.com/SOF92D0hn9
— Philstar Business (@philstarbiznews) June 25, 2020
Neither Pimentel nor Sinas was called 'pasaway' by the national government, with the chief executive even clearing Sinas of his flagrant and well-documented violation, saying Metro Manila's top cop should not be blamed that his people wanted to celebrate his birthday with him.
"As Undersecretary on Barangay Affairs, I receive voluminous reports and complaints on a daily basis from barangay officials on the hardheadedness and lack of cooperation of some of their constituents who continue to defy and violate community quarantine protocols," he said.
"Such apparent lack of discipline and concern from some of our pasaway (stubborn) countrymen is one of the primary reasons why the number of COVID-19 patients continues to rise despite the sacrifice and hard work of our frontliners and the general public," he added.
PNP distances from comment
Police Gen. Archie Gamboa, chief of the national police, on Monday refused to comment on the issue but indicated that the agency would not themselves carry out such a campaign, implying that it would be illegal.
Speaking at his weekly press briefing on Monday, Gamboa said: "We don't have a comment on this but of course the Philippine National Police on our part we would not do such a thing because we always operate in accordance with the law."
"We don't want to be linked to Martial Law-type [enforcement] anymore, and we in the PNP, we have always practiced maximum tolerance. But of course, we will always implement the law," he added.
The Philippine National Police is an attached bureau of the Department of Interior and Local Government.
Earlier, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año also asked the public to report on neighbors known to be positive for the coronavirus. — with reports from Gaea Katreena Cabico and The STAR/Romina Cabrera