‘Sinong mangangalaga?’ Duque laments communities’ refusal to host Filipinos from China

MANILA, Philippines — Some communities have rejected the proposal to hold a place of quarantine for returning Filipinos from China in their respective areas, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Friday.

While not mentioning the location of these communities, Duque lamented the opposition, saying this showed that the Filipinos have lost their sense of “bayanihan,” or cooperation, for which Filipinos had been known for.

“Nakakalungkot… lahat ng pinuntahan ko puros na lang kontra, kontra yung komunidad (It’s upsetting…all of those which I reached out to, they’re against, the community is against the idea),” he said in an interview with dzMM.

“Sabi ko ‘Sinong mangangalaga sa kapwa nating Pilipino kundi Pilipino din?’ Hindi naman kako natin aasahan ang ibang tao na mangalaga sa mga Pilipino tapos tayo mismong mga Pilipino hindi natin sila bibigyan ng pangangalaga,” he added.

(I said, “Who will take care of our fellow Filipinos but Filipinos themselves? We cannot expect others to take care of our fellow countrymen if we ourselves would not take care of them.”)

Duque said the people should show some patriotism, especially now that the country is facing a major threat.

“Sayang yung spirit of bayanihan, kilala tayo diyan. Papayag ba tayo na mawala ito? Magpakita tayo ng patriotism (We’re known for our spirit of bayanihan. Would we let that disappear? We should show some patriotism),” he said.

The first batch of Filipinos from China’s Hubei province, where the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak is located, is set to arrive in the Philippine early Sunday morning.

They will be quarantined for 14-days in the The New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac which was previously used as a facility for the 30th Southeast Asian Games last year.

The government had initially planned to quarantine the repatriated Filipinos in the Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DATRC) at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.