A congressman did not isolate himself, attended the top-level meeting, and special Congress session before revealing he was infected with COVID-19 disease Wednesday night.
ACT-CIS Representative Eric Yap asked for forgiveness and understanding after he admitted he acted “business as usual” in the ten days after he was tested for coronavirus on March 15.
“I ask for the forgiveness and understanding from the people I interacted with. I was paranoid because I was feeling a slight cough, but I felt it was normal for me,” he said in Filipino.
He also admitted he experienced a “slight cough,” which is a symptom of COVID-19, but still, he did not isolate himself.
Yap even attended a meeting at Malacañang on Saturday with several Cabinet members, Senate and House leaders, including Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, and Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano to discuss the funding measures for the pandemic crisis.
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Infected congressman did not isolate, attended meetings, said ‘felt it was normal’
President Rodrigo Duterte was not included in the said meeting.
Yap was seen one seat away from Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. in one photo of the Malacañang meeting. However, in another photo, he was standing close to Villafuerte, who is next to Sen. Bong Go. Go is the Duterte’s former longtime aide who frequently had direct interactions with the president.
The infected congressman was also physically attended at House of Representative’s special session on Monday. Yap and other representatives even held a message made out of Manila paper and cut-out words saying: “Together with doctors and frontliners, we went to work for you, so please stay home for us.”
Other House members participated via digital teleconferencing apps.