An adviser to the government's National Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday rued what he called "blame culture" and claimed he was attacked by a "troll army" for his post on actress Angel Locsin's community pantry.
Dr. Teodoro Herbosa tweeted "Death by 'Community Pantry'. I told you so!" after an edlerly balut vendor died while lining up for food last Friday. The backlash forced him to issue a public apology and resign as exeuctive vice president of the University of the Philippines.
"Nung may namatay, sa galit ko at sa sama ng loob ko bilang isang doktor... nabalita na may nag-collapse, siguro dahil sa heat stroke, sa init ng panahon at nung dinala sa ospital ay dead on arrival, nagalit ako. Tinext ko 'yung eight words na 'yun at minasama ng karamihan ng mga tao na nagbasa nun. Ang basa nila ay kontra ako sa ginagawa nilang pantry," Herbosa lamented during the Laging Handa presser on Monday.
"Ang konteksto ng sinabi ko ay bilang isang eksperto ng disaster medicine, puwede namang magbigay ng tulong pero huwag ilagay sa kapahamakan ang mamamayan. Ang tinuturo naman diyan, 'safety first'."
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Locsin apologized for the incident, for which she claimed full responsibility. The community pantry was set up last Friday as her birthday outreach.
Herbosa resigned from UP last Sunday, citing personal reasons. He remains a tenured facult member. He deleted his "told you so" tweet and set his Twitter account to private.
"Parang napakasamang tao ko, demonyo ba ako?" the government adviser said, calling for the public to stop the "blame culture."
Netizens celebrated his resignation as seen in the comments section of UP System's announcement on Facebook and Twitter. Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes compiled tweets containing Herbosa's earlier tweets, from the death of activist Reina Mae Nasino's baby to rape jokes.
