PH official expresses dissatisfaction over Thai newspaper’s headline calling PH ‘land of COVID-19’

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 10) — A Philippine Embassy official in Bangkok expressed dissatisfaction over a local newspapers’ headline that called the Philippines the “land of COVID-19.”

In a letter to Thai Rath editor-in-chief Saravut Vacharaphol, Consul General Val Simon Roque said “the characterization is inappropriate, insensitive, and unhelpful” during this time when all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are working together to solve the problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roque said the teachers strictly followed health protocols and quarantine rules set by the Thai government.

On August 8, there were 165 Filipino teachers who arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport to make up for the country’s shortage of such professionals. This was reported by Thai Rath newspaper on Sunday, and described the Philippine as such.

The Philippines recorded its highest single-day rise with 6,958 on Monday, bringing total case count to 136,638, still the most count among Southeast Asian countries, followed by Indonesia with 127,083.