OMAR Duterte, son of Davao City First District Representative Paolo Duterte, apologized to the public through his social media account after skipping the quarantine measures in a supermarket in the city.
Omar had been the subject of blind items on social media. And so on Thursday evening, March 26, he posted an apology explaining that he only thought it was alright for him to enter S&R since he was already wearing latex gloves as a way to protect himself and other people against Covid-19.
“I cannot begin to express the great feeling of remorse of not following the protocol, thinking that the gloves were enough. For this, I’m sorry. I was wrong in implying that applying proper sanitation yourself and putting in gloves was enough reason for me to not wash them [hands],” Omar said.
“But I now know that even with all your preparation, no one is above the protocol. Even though they insisted on me going through without me washing my hands, I should have insisted on washing them instead. For all this I am sorry,” he added.
The grandson of President Rodrigo Duterte said he was at the supermarket to buy shrimp, cajun spice, lemons, and white vinegar, which he cooked at home to celebrate his first wedding anniversary with his wife.
He also said it was “rather insensitive” of him to buy such items.
“I already had in mind that a home-cooked meal and a glass of wine at home would be the perfect celebration due to the dire times we are facing with the corona outbreak,” he said.
“But I now know that this was wrong. Trust me in saying that if I had known before, that cooking your dinner at home with your family and staying at home to celebrate your anniversary with your family was seen as a luxury, I would have chosen to sleep instead,” he added.
Before Omar, his father had first issued a public apology.
“This incident is unfortunate given the health emergency that we are facing these days — while most of us are preoccupied with efforts to protect every Dabawenyo, especially our frontliners and government responders and volunteers,” Rep. Duterte said in an issued statement.
Meanwhile, he said the alleged misconduct of the security team accompanying Omar is currently being investigated by the Presidential Security Group.