(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, Feb. 3, urged the public to “stop the xenophobia” against the Chinese, amid the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak.
“This kind of mentioning the Chinese and blaming them, it’s like xenophobia,” Duterte said.
The President said “we are a community of nations.”
“We cooperate. China has been kind to us, we also show the same favor to them,” he said.
The Philippines confirmed the country’s second novel coronavirus over the weekend, also its first death related to the virus.
The 44-year-old Chinese national was also the first novel coronavirus death outside China.
President Duterte has imposed a temporary ban on travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau to prevent the spread of the virus, which was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
