Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon went viral after a heated confrontation at Rockwell Power Plant Mall over the weekend.

Guanzon said the argument began when an alleged Chinese national told her to leave the mall because she was “contagious” after she coughed.

In a radio interview on Monday, Guanzon recounted that she had been eating spicy noodles and was looking for water when she coughed. She stressed that she did not cough directly in front of the couple and had turned away before doing so.

“What happened was, my throat itched, I coughed but I didn’t cough in front of them, I even turned away from them,” Guanzon said. “Within two feet distance the man told me, ‘You are coughing, you should not be in the mall. You have to leave.’”

Guanzon said she was surprised and asked if the couple worked for Rockwell. When the man replied yes, she thought, “People in Rockwell aren’t like this, so, they are Chinese. He even said, ‘No, you are contagious, you should leave.’ Contagious, just a cough? My national pride was hurt. I said, how dare you.”