From the Sun Star (Nov 19): AFP cancels media tour to Caballo Island
THE military's plan to bring members of the media to Caballo Island has been call off Wednesday due to negative criticisms received by the recent visit of health and military officials to the quarantined Filipino peacekeepers from Liberia, an Ebola-stricken country.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gregorio Pio Catapang said he decided to cancel the trip to avoid more negative criticisms from the public following their trip to the island last weekend.
Catapang and acting Health Secretary Janette Garin have come under fire for not wearing protective equipment while visiting the 133 Filipino peacekeepers from Liberia last Sunday in Caballo Island.
Catapang has said that they visited the peacekeepers to show the country that "there is nothing to worry about Ebola." They reportedly did not shake hands with the peacekeepers, who are undergoing a 21-day quarantine in Caballo Island.
On Monday, he mingled with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and President Benigno Aquino III in the 75th anniversary of the Department of National Defense in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
Catapang said he shook hands with Aquino twice.
The military chief's act received mixed reactions from the public.
But Malacanang immediately rushed to the defense of Catapang and Garin, saying they followed protocols of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO said that of the 14,000 people infected by the deadly virus in eight countries, 6,525 were from Liberia.
Death toll of the Ebola virus outbreak stands at 5,177, with 2,812 recorded in Liberia, the WHO said.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2014/11/19/afp-cancels-media-tour-caballo-island-377372
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