MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on late Tuesday night railed at the Visayan people for allegedly flouting lockdown rules that led to the surge of COVID-19 cases in their region.

In a streamed public address, the President said Cebuanos and Davaoeños failed to comply with health guidelines set by the government to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"Mga Bisaya talaga, maski sa Davao, 'yung mga Bisaya doon, ang titigas talaga ng mga ulo. Hindi mo mapasunod. 'Yan ang totoo. 'Yan talaga, prangkahan ko kayo," he said.

"Masuko mo nako. Eh 'di masuko pud ko ninyo (You are angry with me. I am angry at you)."

"Do not F with me," he added.

Duterte said Cebu has emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot due to rising coronavirus infections there.

"Cebu is now the hotspot for COVID. Bakit?... Marami sa inyo ang hindi sumunod," he said.

Cebu City has recorded the most number of COVID-19 cases in the country, with 4,639 reported as of June 29. It is followed by Quezon City (3,212), Manila (2,309), Cebu (1,062) and Makati City (972).

Duterte also took to task Talisay City in Cebu, which he said was allegedly nonchalant on the risk of COVID-19.

"Talisay was like a market place everyday. Nag-iinuman kayo diyan, nagsusugal, almost nonchalant of the dangers that are lurking around," he said.

Meanwhile, the President praised Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces for obeying lockdown rules despite some violations.

"There was a substantial compliance. There were violations but not in a scale that I saw in other places," he said.

Data from DOH as of June 29 revealed that Metro Manila ranked first among regions for total number of COVID-19 infections, with 18,384 cases. It is followed by Central Visayas (7,255), Calabarzon (2,631), Central Luzon (942) and Davao Region (510).

To date, the Philippines has recorded 37,514 coronavirus cases, of whom 1,266 have died while 10,233 have recovered.

• Philippines' coronavirus infections breach 37,000