President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visits Abra on July 28, 2022. File photo / Office of Speaker Martin Romualdez
MANILA, Philippines — While saying it is “unfortunate” that the first case of monkeypox was recorded in the country, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. claimed Monday that monkeypox is not as scary as COVID-19.
Marcos made the remark as he visited a COVID-19 vaccination site in Pasig City.
“It’s unfortunate that we have recorded our monkeypox case. Let me stress on that, it is one monkeypox case in the Philippines… ‘yung pasyente nung monkeypox ay pagaling na [the monkeypox patient is now on the road to recovery] ,” Marcos said in a press briefing at the vaccination site.
“Even then, I want to be very clear to everyone: This is not COVID. Hindi kagaya ng COVID ito. Hindi nakakatakot kagaya ng COVID ‘yung monkeypox. Parang smallpox, marami namang gamot. Pwede nating gamutin [Monkeypox is not as scary as COVID. It’s like smallpox, there are lots of medicines. We can use them],” the President added.
Nonetheless, Marcos said the public must maintain good hygiene and sanitation like fighting any other disease.
The President added that the government is monitoring the situation.
“Sa ngayon, yung monkeypox ay talagang nakabantay tayo. Nasanay na tayo rito sa COVID-19. Nakabantay tayo ng husto,” Marcos said.
(Right now, we are strictly monitoring monkeypox. We got used to COVID-19. We are diligently monitoring it.)
The Department of Health (DOH) earlier announced the first case of monkeypox in the country—a 31-year-old Filipino national who arrived from abroad last July 19 and had prior travel to countries with documented monkeypox cases.
The DOH said the patient is “recovering well at home.”
READ: First case of monkeypox detected in PH
The World Health Organization earlier said the rapidly spreading monkeypox outbreak is a “public health emergency of international concern” – designed to signal that a coordinated international response is needed and could unlock funding and global efforts to collaborate on sharing vaccines and treatments.
READ: Monkeypox: What to know amid unusual rise in cases
The DOH has said monkeypox is a “rarely fatal” disease with mild symptoms.
READ: Monkeypox ‘rarely fatal’ with deaths only 5 per 10,000 cases – DOH