Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri has apologized to the Filipino medical community for his previous remarks belittling how they are treating COVID-19 cases.
In a Facebook post, Zubiri asked forgiveness from health workers who were offended by his recent statements disparaging their efforts as frontliners of the coronavirus pandemic.
“My apologies if my previous post hurt the feelings of the Medical Community. That was not the intention of that post but rather propose options for drug use against Covid 19. I recognize the heroic efforts of our Medical Community are themselves now under threat from this deadly Virus. AS A SENATOR WHO IS PART OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY OF GOVERNMENT AND NOT THE EXECUTIVE WHICH HANDLES THE DOH, WE HAVE NO POWER OVER GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS NOR PERSONNEL,” Zubiri wrote
https://www.facebook.com/migzzubiri/posts/3827528267265092?__xts__[0]=68.ARC9RSZSMHmofxFgUockKh6z4eqN6xds5kfbcEqRUIoGKsWK_yxr6Rvt6DaF9MTvI4eoMX9gkbsehr9xmNp4Ivy9UHmIiY5qbjpjCgG8UR4FwqeMYi7zaEO0JaENpHdbR_7Qbe-61L5sAhYu-mg-R_S1gXnbqt10mJB6_E4eoqVuBSGyl9Mkl19qEdbT3w36I45sbcPDnPLTMuubYbl9Ug5V5woS2Mwh-HuuJY-QnqDvAEskIB8WekjxCnGxM4g-JT1xCotYEcM4tqgm_AsqBBs7DmdtVkpE7MIAuKkODUkTjciwsKbHPKDCfkyj-Ho7UsFXrJKhTQO31PBRSjvDSwAcdQ&__tn__=-R
Zubiri was recently in hot water after he belittled the efforts being done by the frontliners in the fight against COVID-19 despite the inadequacy of government support for their protective gears and other medical supplies.
In the said post, Zubiri said it seemed health workers in hospitals are clueless about how to deal with the COVID-19 cases.
“We now have one of the highest death rates of COVID-19 cases in the region at almost 10%. Our hospitals don’t seem to know how to treat our Patients no matter how heroic their actions are. Pls Pls Pls try the drugs already in use by Thailand, Korea, and India where it seems to be working and they have lessened their death rates,” Zubiri wrote.
His statement got the attention of some medical professionals who called out the senator’s insensitive rant.
https://twitter.com/smolsurgeon/status/1239934745993031680
Huli ka!!!! Uy, mga hospital sa Pilipinas, di nyo raw alam ang ginagawa nyo sabi ni Migz Zubiri! pic.twitter.com/qSx3jQDKgX
— simply_clinton (@Simply_Clinton) March 17, 2020
Zubiri was the first Senator to come out positive with COVID-19.
He was able to get tested despite DOH’s claims of limited testing kits.
