Pangilinan tweets about 'foul-mouthed, trying hard, copy cat' after Locsin's Twitter rant

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Tuesday said he'd rather not waste time on the "tantrums" of a "foul-mouthed" person, hours after he became a subject of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin's expletive-laden tweet about COVID-19 test kits.

"I have better things to do than waste my time with the tantrums of a foul mouthed, trying hard, copy cat," Pangilinan tweeted on Tuesday -- a play on actress Cherie Gil's famous quote on the 1985 movie "Bituing Walang Ningning," which also stars Pangilinan's wife Sharon Cuneta.

I have better things to do than waste my time with the tantrums of a foul mouthed, trying hard, copy cat.

— Kiko Pangilinan (@kikopangilinan) July 21, 2020

The opposition senator did not mention who he was alluding to, but a few hours before that, Locsin reacted to his view that the government seems to favor more the imported COVID-19 test kits than the locally developed ones, which had to go through a more rigid evaluation process.

"Why? Why? BECAUSE THEY'RE PROVED TO F*CKING WORK THAT'S F*CKING WHY? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU. SHUT UP IF YOU HAVE NOTHING INTELLIGENT TO SAY. P*TANGINA. I AM NOT GONNA LET OUR PEOPLE DIE IN THE NAME OF FILIPINO FIRST. P*TANGINA," Locsin said, commenting on a news article about Pangilinan's stance.

"I just hate nationalism when it comes to public health," he added.

After a defect has been addressed, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Sunday that the COVID-19 test kits developed by the University of the Philippines have already been approved for commercial use.

The development came on the heels of the minority senators' call to use the locally-produced kits which are cheaper compared to its counterparts from China and Korea.

GMA News Online sought comment from Pangilinan on Wednesday regarding the tweets of the Foreign Affairs Secretary. The senator simply said he has "already responded" to it on Twitter. —KBK, GMA News