President Duterte appealed to the public to "religiously" follow the health protocols set by the government after he noticed that there are still people who are not wearing their face masks properly 10 months after the country was placed on lockdown.

Duterte made the statement days ahead of the announcement of the new quarantine classifications for the month of February.

In his taped public address aired on Monday evening, President Duterte urged the public to strictly follow health protocols, noting that the country had already breached the 500,000-mark for COVID-19 cases.

To date, there are 514,996 cases of COVID-19 in the country, 475,422 of whom recovered while 10,292 died.

"Ang problema into (The problem here) is how you maybe obey the protocols of maghugas then mask (washing your hands and wearing your face mask)," he said.

"Kasi ‘yung iba nagma-mask tapos nakikita ko ‘yung ilong ninyo sumasabit doon (I see some people whose nose) just on the edge of the mask, the upper portion. So it does not really give a relief at all kung ganoon ang --- ka-careless ang tao na gumagamit (if the people using them are that careless)," he added.

According to the President, people should wear face masks because it helps in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

"I’m not a medical person --- it will give you something like 80 percent ano basta (relief if) worn properly," he said.

"I hope that you would be religious in obeying the injunctions na sinasabi ng mga ating (dictated by our) medical persons simply because we are trying to save our country," he added.

Face masks have been in-demand globally since the start of the lockdowns in March 2020. In the Philippines, the demand for face masks rose during the Taal Volcano eruption in January 2020.