House Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte apologized Friday over the behavior of his son, Omar, who bypassed the queue in a grocery in Davao in violation of quarantine protocols amid the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

“It has come to my attention that my son, Omar Duterte, went to SNR Davao and he did not line up and thus, was not subjected to stringent screening requirements of the establishment,” the presidential son and Davao City representative said in a statement.

“It is with humility that I apologize for the behavior of Omar and his impertinence shall be dealt with accordingly,” he added.

People take longer hours in lining up to grocery in observance of social distancing which limits the number of people allowed to enter the establishment at a given time. Likewise, guards do check body temperature of shoppers before allowing them in since fever is one of the symptoms of COVID-19.

“This incident is unfortunate, given the health emergency that we are facing these days, when most of us are preoccupied with efforts to protect every Dabawenyo, especially our frontliners and government responders and volunteers,” Duterte added.

Likewise, Duterte said the alleged misconduct of the security team accompanying Omar will also be investigated by the Presidential Security Group.

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In a Facebook post, Omar also apologized for his actions saying that he only thought it was alright for him to enter the supermarket since he was already wearing latex gloves as a way to protect himself and other people amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I cannot begin to express the great feeling of remorse of not following the protocol, thinking that the gloves were enough. For this, I'm sorry. I was wrong in implying that applying proper sanitation yourself and putting in gloves was enough reason for me to not wash them [hands],” Omar said.

“But I now know that even with all your preparation, no one is above the protocol. Even though they insisted on me going through without me washing my hands, I should have insisted on washing them instead. For all this I am sorry,” he added.

Davao Region, of which Davao City is a part of, has been on lockdown since March 18 to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

The Philippines has recorded 707 COVID-19 cases, as of 4 pm of March 26 . Of this number, 45 have already died while 28 others recovered.—AOL, GMA News