Garcia to ‘pray’ for those spreading rumors that she is sick with COVID-19

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia shows a July 20, 2020 copy of a national broadsheet to prove that the press conference in Barili on Monday was held live and belie rumors that she is supposedly in a hospital for COVID-19. CDN Digital photo | Rosalie Abatayo

Barili, Cebu — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said she would “pray”  for persons who “wish her ill” as rumors spread anew that she was hospitalized due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

On Monday, July 20, 2020, Garcia held a press conference in this southern Cebu town, where her younger brother Marlon Garcia is mayor, to deny speculations and assure that she is well.

Although she said that she already identified the persons supposedly behind the rumors, Garcia said she would rather pray for them instead of filing charges.

“Kanang mag-file ta karon og charges ana nila, taas kaayo ang proseso. Ang ako na lang gamiton, ako ni silang i-ampo. Sa akong nahibaw-an, makagaba raba gyud ko. Ako na lang ni silang i-ampo nga dili sila ang ma-ospital,” Garcia said.

(If we file charges, it’s going to be a long process. What I’ll do is pray for them. From what I know, bad things usually come to those who wish me ill. I will just pray that they won’t land in the hospital.)

During the press conference, which was broadcasted live on Facebook, Garcia pulled up copies of local and national newspapers dated July 20, 2020 to prove that the press conference is being done “live” and that she is not confined in a private hospital, as the rumors say.

Garcia said they tried to trace the source of the speculations and found that the rumors “started” among professionals inside hospitals.

“In fact, ang most recent, a classmate of mine who is a doctor called because she was really worried and I asked if she heard it in the hospitals and she said, ‘yes,’ during her duty,” Garcia said.

Garcia also said the attending doctor of a former barangay captain from Toledo City, who is confined in a private hospital in Cebu City due to COVID-19, also received a call asking if he was Garcia’s attending physician. 

“This means nga diri gyud ni nagsugod ani nga community,” Garcia said.

(This means that it really started in this community.)

Last July 9, Garcia also belied the rumors that she and her chief of staff, lawyer Frank Eduard Dinsay V, were infected with COVID-19.

Read: Governor Garcia denies testing positive for COVID-19

Dinsay, in his Facebook account, clarified that he was hospitalized due to dengue fever and not because of COVID-19. /bmjo