A video showing presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. shunning a supporter from shaking his hand in Caloocan City went viral on social media over the weekend.
Marcos Jr.'s camp said the incident was not intentional.
In a statement Sunday, Feb. 20, Marcos Jr.'s spokesman Vic Rodriguez said the presidential survey frontrunner "did not refuse" the unidentified person a handshake.
Instead, Marcos Jr. "only protected his hand that sustained a cut near his pulse that was apparently infected," Rodriguez said.
"And like a real leader conveying his message of unity amid COVID-19 , he did not mind it and continued mingling with people who love the BBM-Sara UniTeam."
But how did he get cut in the first place?
In a statement later that Sunday, Marcos Jr.'s camp explained how the former senator got wounded.
Marcos Jr. allegedly got scratched during his caravan in Cavite province. The Cavite caravan happened from Feb. 10 to 11 or at least eight days prior to the Caloocan caravan.
"Cavite caravan pa lang nagkaroon ng mga kalmot si BBM (Bongbong Marcos), during Makati caravan nagdugo, lalong natrigger ng mga sumunod na caravan... (During the Cavite caravan, BBM sustained a scratch. It bled during the Makati caravan and was further triggered in the following caravans)," his camp said in a Viber message, without adding any other details.
Marcos Jr.'s camp also released a photo of the presidential aspirant showing his supposedly injured left wrist covered with medical gauze.
Meanwhile, a photo released on Feb. 17 by Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) party, a political party led by Marcos Jr.'s running mate, vice presidential aspirant Sara Duterte-Carpio, clearly showed a cut on Marcos Jr.'s wrist.
The video that went viral on social media on Saturday showed Marcos Jr. being grabbed on his right hand. He then shunned the supporter.
Rodriguez said Marcos Jr. is asking for his supporters' understanding. He also urged them to avoid squeezing his hands and arms "to avoid further infection as well as for his wound to heal immediately".