MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin Jr. on Saturday defended Senator Richard Gordon, after the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) which the senator heads, was called “mukhang pera” by President Rodrigo Duterte after it stopped its coronavirus testing.
“W/o Dick [Gordon] you’d all be dead because the silly little operations the opposition mounted for cute effect couldn’t save a mouse. You should lick Dick in any spot he indicates to show eternal gratitude. You fucking flat nosed mumbo jumbos were totally in the dark when Covid hit,” the country’s top diplomat wrote in a tweet.
https://twitter.com/teddyboylocsin/status/1324975412531748864?s=21
In a televised speech on Thursday, Duterte said the PRC, which helped maximize the country’s coronavirus testing efforts, was “mukhang pera” (greedy) when it stopped its coronavirus testing over a nearly P1 billion debt owed by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
The PRC resumed its government-funded COVID-19 testing after PhilHealth settled half of the P1 billion debt it owes the humanitarian organization.
The humanitarian group stopped government-funded testing mid-October this year after PhilHealth failed to pay its debts.
On Friday, Gordon who is also PRC chairman, responded to the President’s strong statement, saying he was not offended but the PRC did not deserve the “mukhang pera” tag.