Duterte in perpetual isolation, denies trip to Singapore

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is being kept in “perpetual isolation” in Davao City to prevent him from contracting the coronavirus disease 2019, his spokesman said yesterday.

The President also denied last night that he had flown abroad on a private jet, telling those spreading the rumor, “Stop this nonsense about me going to Singapore.”

Even as he denied the rumors, Duterte stressed, “I am a citizen of this country. The right to travel is guaranteed… wala kayong pakialam kung gusto kong pumunta (it’s none of your business if I want to go).”

His spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the President regularly undergoes reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests and is not allowed to meet people – even family members – who have not undergone the same and tested negative for COVID-19.

“The President is in perpetual isolation because no one can come close to him. I think I told you that whenever we meet with him, there is a velvet rope that keeps him at least six feet away from everyone else. So no one can really come close to the President,” Roque said at a press briefing.

He said it’s Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio who has required regular PCR test on her father.

“Nagrereklamo nga siya dahil paulit-ulit na iyong pagsundot sa ilong niya (He’s complaining about his nose getting poked frequently). The last time I heard him, ‘Naku! Sundot na naman ako ng ilong (‘Oh no, they’re going to poke into my nose again)’,” Roque said.

Those who need to closely interact with Duterte like members of the Presidential Photographers Department, Radio-TV Malacañang, and even the Presidential Security Group, should first undergo 14-day quarantine.

After drawing taunts and ridicule for his use of the term “perpetual isolation,” to describe the condition of the President, Roque clarified he was just trying to emphasize the ”prudence” exercised by the presidential bodyguards.

“‘Perpetual isolation’ is a figure of speech I used to highlight the prudence exercised by the Presidential Security Group in safeguarding the physical well-being of the President in this challenging time of COVID-19,” the Palace spokesman said in a statement.

“Much as he wanted, for instance, to shake the hands of those present during his fifth State of the Nation Address, the PSG discouraged (the President) from doing so as part of a precautionary measure of maintaining physical distance,” he added.

Meanwhile, only selected PSG members as well as household staff of both the Bahay Pagbabago in Malacañang and at his residence in Davao City are allowed to go on duty and are not to go home or leave the area where the President stays. A medical team is also on standby round-the-clock.

Roque said some Cabinet members did not push through with their planned trip to Davao City to ensure the safety of the President.

The President was supposed to hold a face-to-face meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) to discuss quarantine classifications of areas.

Roque, who held yesterday’s press briefing from his home, said the meeting would push through but it would be done virtually.

“The reason why I went on self-isolation, it’s a personal decision because I was on the same plane with Secretary Año. But technically, the President had no close contact because we were far from the President and we were wearing face shields and face masks,” he said, referring to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año who again tested positive for SARS-CoV-2

“I believe the others are also on self-isolation now even if it is not required,” he added.

Roque did not identify the officials undergoing self-quarantine. Among those who were present during the Aug. 10 meeting of the IATF were Roque, Año, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, COVID-19 policy chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and Sen. Christopher Go. Roque said he would isolate himself for five days before undergoing PCR test.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the President is up and about as he performs his tasks in his residence in Davao City where he has been staying since Aug. 3.

Duterte arrived in his hometown in Davao City a day before the start of the modified enhanced community quarantine in the National Capital Region and in the nearby provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna.

Malacañang denied rumors that the President had flown to Singapore. The President had a private meeting Sunday afternoon at the Matina Enclave Residences Guesthouse at the same time that the reports of his supposed emergency flight to Singapore came out.

A social media post by a certain Josef talked of the arrival in Davao City on Sunday from Singapore of a Lear Jet operated by Medical Aviation Services – a subsidiary of UK based Specialist Aviation Services. The post implied that the President was a passenger of the aircraft.

Roque called the report, “fake news.” He said Duterte “remained in Davao, he did not leave the Philippines and his health is fine.”

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines yesterday confirmed the arrival in Davao City of the same aircraft last Saturday, with a Filipina and a Singaporean as passengers. The aircraft left a few minutes later. CAAP declined to share more details with The STAR, citing “privacy issue.”

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