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COVID-19 survivor and broadcast journalist Howie Severino was accosted this afternoon by
the authorities in Quezon City when he removed his face mask to have a drink.

Photographer Luis Liwanag captured images of Severino as he was taken by officials in a

post that has been shared almost 10,000 times.

“Journalist Howie Severino who momentarily pulled down [h]is mask for a drink, is
apprehended by village officers and police and was brought to the [A]moranto stadium for a
short seminar on proper use of face masks in public. About hundreds of persons including
women and the elderly were brought in,” wrote Liwanag.

Read: Marikina police defends men who confronted GMA reporter for not wearing
uniform and ID

Liwanag has not responded to Coconuts Manila’s request for comments.

In the post’s comments section, Severino told fellow journalist Luz Rimban that the incident
happened while he was having a drink with Liwanag near a corner bike store.
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Image: Liwanag/FB
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In another message, Severino said that when he was at the Amoranto, he noticed that there
were a lot of people who were brought in for the seminar.

“I offered to give the talk on Covid hehe. [But] they just allowed me to go home after I told
them I had just finished drinking,” he wrote.

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Image: Liwanag/FB
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In a post that followed the incident, Severino said he saw Liwanag at Mother Ignacia Street, 
where the incident happened.

“We bought drinks at the store next door, and drank them after pulling down our masks
below the mouth (because we have not learned to drink yet with masks on). We were all
outdoors where the risk of infection is much lower than indoors and maintained at least four
feet distance from each other. I had just finished my drink and returned the bottle to the
store before I could pull my mask back up, when at least two vehicles of QC law enforcers
arrived to tell me I was talking without my mask covering my mouth and had to be brought
to Amoranto for a seminar,” he said.

“However, I am kind of glad that as QC is an epicenter of the disease in the Philippines,

they are finally doing something, even if it’s a bit draconian. I even offered to give a talk at
the seminar. Instead they returned my bike and told me I could go home,” the award-
winning documentary filmmaker added.

Quezon City, like the rest of Metro Manila, has made wearing face mask mandatory to
prevent the spread of the coronavirus.