A band of journalists on Twitter is urging the media to stop coverage on Duterte supporter, Marcos loyalist, and Hitler apologist Atty. Larry Gadon in light of his refusal to abide by minimum health standards of wearing a face mask and a face shield.
Foreign correspondent to CBSNews, CGTN, Al Jazeera English, and host of View Point, Barnaby Lo pleaded with his media colleagues to stop giving publicity to Gadon.
Dear media colleagues,
Stop giving Larry Gadon publicity. Stop giving him a platform for his lies and antics.
Thanks.
PS – Let’s all start putting a stop to his circus by not RT’ing/reposting articles and artcards that quote him.
— Barnaby Lo 吳宗鴻 (@barnabychuck) August 27, 2020
Lo also questioned why no law enforcer is arresting Gandon on his violations.
Is no law enforcer going to arrest Gadon for not wearing a face mask? https://t.co/33a82ZWRhy
— Barnaby Lo 吳宗鴻 (@barnabychuck) August 27, 2020
GMA News reporter and anchor Jun Veneracion said that for future reference, there should be no interviews if Gadon isn’t wearing a mask.
https://twitter.com/jun_veneracion/status/1298929498050580480
Isa Avendaño-Umali of Super Radyo DZBB was shocked to find out that Gadon wasn’t wearing a mask during the interview.
https://twitter.com/Isa_Umali/status/1298923630798073856
Raffy Sison Santos of ABS-CBN also asked why Gadon has not been arrested yet.
Bakit hindi hinuli yan e walang facemask?? Paps deliks yan e
— Raffy Sison Santos (@raffsantos) August 27, 2020
DZBB and GMA News Reporter Glen Jueco posted a video of Gadon answering why he does not wear a face mask. He said that DOH is to blame for the nosedive of the Philippine economy during the pandemic.
PANOORIN: Ang sagot ni Atty. Larry Gadon nang tanungin ng mga mamamahayag kung bakit hindi siya nakasuot ng face mask at face shield; Ayon kay Gadon, kasalanan ng DOH kung bakit nalugmok ang ekonomiya. @dzbb pic.twitter.com/VvucU91T7Q
— Glen Juego (@glenjuego) August 27, 2020
According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, Gadon’s dismissal of minimum health standards is “not a joking matter,” She said that public personalities should avoid promoting misinformation because people are following them.
“Sana lahat ng tao maintindihan nila kung ano ang implikasyon pag nagsalita sila in public because people are following them. So yung mga ganitong statements is not helping us at all,” Vergeire added.
She also added that the problem of flattening the curve comes from the difficulty of enforcing the minimum health standards set by the Department of Health and urged public figures to give accurate information to the public.
“Dito po tayo nagkakaroon ng problema. Dahil currently hirap na po tayo mag-enforce ng minimum health standards. So we seek the help of everybody in giving accurate information to our general public,” Vergeire said.
According to Vergeire, studies have already confirmed that wearing face masks does provide protection from contracting the coronavirus and lessens the risk by 99% if worn with a face shield.
