President Duterte went after those who do not believe in vaccines, or anti-vaxxers, saying they can go ahead and die if they want to because they are just putting other people in danger.

(KING RODRIGUEZ / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)
Duterte made the statement as the government scrambles to augment its vaccine supply as a measure to ease the alarming spike in cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.
In his second "Talk to the People" this week, the President said he used to not mind anti-vaxxers but he realized that lives of people are being put in danger because of some refused to get vaccinated.
"May mga iba diyan na ayaw talaga magbakuna, eh ‘di okay na lang ‘yan sa akin. Ang problema kung makahawa ka (There are those who do not want to get the vaccine and that is okay with me. But the problem is they may infect other people)," he said in his pre-recorded address aired on Thursday evening.
"The problem with being a bravado, ‘yang hambog, sabihin mo ‘eh ayaw ko kasi hindi naman ako naniniwala diyan (with being arrogant, is you reject the vaccine because you do not believe in it)," he added.
Duterte said anti-vaxxers should save the trouble for other people and die already instead of endangering the lives of others.
"If I were to talk to you in the gutter language, sabihin ko sa iyo, 'P i* mo, mamatay ka na kung gusto mo limang beses, ang problema ang mahawa mo' (I'll tell you, 'Son of a b*tch, you can die five times over because the problem is you can infect someone')," he said.
"Iyang ayaw pang mamatay, gusto pang magpasyal sa Luneta… Kung sawa ka na talaga sa buhay na ito, gawin mo 'yan (There are people who still want to stroll around Luneta. If you are tired of your life, then you can go and die)," he added.
The government has put utmost importance on vaccination to address the spike in COVID-19 cases in the country. On Thursday, the Philippines logged 11,429 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 904,285.
The vaccination program rolled out on March 1, 2021. To date, the country has administered 1,255,716 doses of coronavirus vaccines. A total of 162,065 people have been fully vaccinated as of April 15.