Reply to the Batangas Captain

Narito po ang nilalaman ng aking sagot sa sulat na ipinadala ng aming Punong Barangay kahapon na nag-uutos sa akin at sa aking pamilya na kami ay mag-self quarantine. Nais ko lang linawin na bago ko pa man natanggap ang sulat, nagsimula na kaming mag-quarantine ng pamilya ko.

Ang ipinagtataka ko lang po ay kung bakit kumalat agad ang kanyang sulat sa social media na hindi niya man lang ako tinawagan upang alamin kung ano ang katotohanan sa naging viral na picture namin ni Sen. Koko Pimentel. Ang naganap po noong March 4 (hindi po March 10 tulad ng napabalita) ay isang political meeting ng PDP Laban at hindi "partying". Nawa'y maging maingat po tayo sa ating mga ikinakalat sa social media.

Ang nais ko po ay makapagsilbi ng maayos at maging inspirasyon sa lahat sa gitna ng mga pagsubok na ating hinaharap. We will fight this pandemic together and we will be victorious, all by God's grace.

****************************************************

March 28, 2020

MS. ROSSANA HWANG
Punong Barangay
Barangay Dasmarinas
Makati City

Dear Ms. Hwang:

Greetings!

Your letter dated March 27, 2020 expressing your concern for my family's well-being is highly appreciated. We fully support the community's effort to address this pandemic.

I write this letter to clarify certain matters that you have raised in your letter .

The picture that you may have been referring to, wherein I was seen interacting with Sen. Koko Pimentel and other officials, was a political meeting with PDP-Laban members in my residence. This event happened on March 4, 2020. I am sure our Dasmarinas Village guards have records of this if only a proper verification was made. Let me also emphasize that it was not "partying" as stated in your letter. It was a political meeting. The word "partying" casts me as someone insensitive to the current crisis of the nation .

Even prior to your DIRECTIVE, the members of my family and I have been observing the proper physical distancing and have once again placed ourselves on quarantine since March 24, Tuesday. We have three designated staff for essential errands and they have no direct contact with this household as they are staying at my house in Forbes. We are grateful for your offer to deliver our needs to our doorstep but we do not wish to burden our community with these matters which are well within our means and capabilities. Rest assured that we have and shall continue to strictly and conscientiously abide by the rules governing the enhanced community quarantine.

It may interest you to learn that I have tested negative for the virus using a Rapid Testing Kit from South Korea. Although such test was not conducted under the guidance of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, I am willing to undergo a confirmatory test only if the need arises because I firmly believe that we have a lot of Persons Under Investigation or PUI who have to be prioritized in terms of testing.

With all due respect, may you please allow a member of my household to go out to buy or do essentials pursuant to IATF guidelines? Accordingly, kindly have the appropriate Home Quarantine Pass delivered to my residence.

Finally, it has come to my attention that your letter has been the subject of several news reports and malicious social media posts. In this regard, I wish to know how this private letter addressed to me went around social media with total disregard to my right to privacy. Meantime, I will refer this matter to the appropriate agency for proper investigation to avoid the same incident from happening.

In this regard, I would like to remind you that it is in the best interest of our immediate community, and of the general public, if we refrain from making assertions or conclusions based on unverified news items and malicious social media posts. We also ask that your office refrain from sending out official barangay communications directed to individuals to news outlets and social media. We do not wish to cause unnecessary panic during these trying times.

Thank you.

Respectfully,

EMMANUEL D. PACQUIAO