This combination photo shows DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. (left) and Senate President Vicente Sotto III (right). INQUIRER FILE
MANILA, Philippines — “This is an example of the craziest video I have ever seen.”
These were the first words uttered by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. after watching a short film presented by Senate President Vicente Sotto III during Tuesday’s Senate health committee hearing on the government’s readiness to tackle the novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV, which started in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province.
According to Sotto, the video he presented was sent to his office Monday night.
“I’d like to show the video, it is a little over 10 minutes, I’d like to think it’s somehow interesting if not revealing,” Sotto said before playing the video, asking Locsin to give his reaction afterward.
The video claims that the 2019-nCoV could be a bioweapon in the supposed biowarfare that Western powers like the United States and the United Kingdom might be waging against China.
The video did not cite any official sources for its claims.
“This is an example of the craziest video I have ever seen,” Locsin consequently said.
“In this video, there are the suspects: China inflicting it on itself, 99 percent of all infections are Chinese. So why would they do that? Maybe the plan is for China to create a virus so strong, they would first test them on themselves and when they are all dead, they would spread it to other countries,” he added, apparently trying to make sense of the video.
“Second, other suspect: US. The US has done this because they can send it all across the ocean into Wuhan and kill the Chinese, but then later on the other suspects are Canada that at any rate, it says it could also spread to US and Europe.”
“Again, this is a plot of the United States and the West to destroy China by first destroying itself, this is really clever,” the Department of Foreign Affairs chief further said.
Locsin, however, noted that other countries, particularly in the West were “perhaps happy that this is happening to China because this may spell the end of Chinese power.”
But, he added, “Unfortunately for them, if that is true, this disease is only proving the resilience and strength of China.”
The video that Sotto showed during the Senate hearing likewise claimed that China is “always lying about figures and statistics.”
“The coronavirus is way more grave than they make it seem,” it alleged.
But Locsin defended China and said it never withheld information about the 2019-n-CoV.
“There is no truth that China even withheld information about this disease,” he said.
According to Locsin, the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong was able to receive information from the Hong Kong government as early as January 7.
“It had already released its preparedness and response plan for novel infectious disease of public significance. Before the discovery that you could isolate it, China was already spreading the news to all of its special administrative regions, who were then authorized to tell us that this is happening,” he added.
Sotto then said it was good to hear Locsin’s opinion on the video since it was circulating online.
“It is best that we are also aware of what other people are saying about this coronavirus,” Sotto pointed out.