President Rodrigo Duterte wants the public to continue to wearing face masks until the end of his term in June 30.

"I don’t want you to stop wearing your masks. While I’m President, continue to use your masks because this has given us protection," Duterte said during his visit to the victims of Tropical Storm ''Agaton'' in Leyte on Friday.

Duterte said face masks protected the public from the spread of COVID-19.

"If I hadn’t firmly imposed the usage of face masks, the infection rate would have been high," said Duterte.

"But because you are using masks, the virus can’t easily penetrate through the material.… It gives you protection," he added.

In a previous interview, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano said surge in COVID-10 occurred in other countries after they removed their face masks.

"You can assure that we will not loosen up and we will further intensify the implementation of our protocols," he said. Robina Asido/DMS