MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he was only ”shooting the breeze” with lawmakers when he agreed face shields should only be worn in hospitals, clarifying he “never” said with finality that the government would do away with their mandatory use.
“When I mentioned about the face shield, I was only shooting the breeze with the congressmen, the members of Congress who were there,” Duterte said in a taped address. “I never said with finality that we will do away with the face shield.”
In a meeting with members of Congress in Malacañang, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Duterte agreed face shields should be worn only in hospitals.
But this Monday, the president decided that face shields should still be worn indoors and outdoors.
“Now, I will agree with you considering that this [delta] variant is very aggressive and it can proliferate in such a short period of time. We may experience a second wave much more serious than the first,” Duterte said.
“The first wave that happened to us, it has really depleted the resources of the government. Another one would be disastrous for this country. That is why the stricter you are, the better,” he went on, speaking partly in Filipino.