MANILA – The Philippines expressed dismay on Monday over a newspaper headline in Thailand calling the Filipino teachers, who arrived in Bangkok, from "the land of COVID-19."
"The Philippine Embassy wishes to express its deep dissatisfaction over the characterization in the headline of the Philippines in relation to the return of the teachers," Consul General Val Simon Roque said in an open letter to Thai Rath editor-in-chief Saravut Vacharaphol.
"The characterization is inappropriate, insensitive, and unhelpful at a time when all of us, brothers and sisters in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), are closely cooperating to deal with the new and unforeseen challenges brought about by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic," Roque added.
The Consul General also said the teachers followed health protocols and quarantine rules promulgated by the Thai government.
On August 8, 165 Filipinos arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport to fill the gap on the shortage of teachers in Thailand.
The Thai report came after the Philippines took over Indonesia on Thursday, August 6, as the country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia.
The Philippines logged its highest single-day increase of 6,958 on Monday, bringing total case count to 136,638.
— The Summit Express
"The Philippine Embassy wishes to express its deep dissatisfaction over the characterization in the headline of the Philippines in relation to the return of the teachers," Consul General Val Simon Roque said in an open letter to Thai Rath editor-in-chief Saravut Vacharaphol.
"The characterization is inappropriate, insensitive, and unhelpful at a time when all of us, brothers and sisters in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), are closely cooperating to deal with the new and unforeseen challenges brought about by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic," Roque added.
The Consul General also said the teachers followed health protocols and quarantine rules promulgated by the Thai government.
The Philippine Embassy has written the editor in chief of Thai Rath concerning the newspaper's headline yesterday.
For the Filipino community's information.
Posted by Philippine Embassy in Thailand on Monday, August 10, 2020
On August 8, 165 Filipinos arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport to fill the gap on the shortage of teachers in Thailand.
The Thai report came after the Philippines took over Indonesia on Thursday, August 6, as the country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia.
The Philippines logged its highest single-day increase of 6,958 on Monday, bringing total case count to 136,638.
— The Summit Express
