SEVEN tourists were apprehended by the police in Malay town in Aklan after presenting falsified RT-PCR test to gain entry into Boracay Island, police reported yesterday.
The seven were accosted last Friday and brought to a quarantine facility in Kalibo town, also in Aklan, where they will undergo swab testing.
Malay police chief Lt. Col. Don Dicksie De Dios said the tourists were from Quezon City, Manila and Bulacan.
They would be charged for violation of Republic Act 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
De Dios said members of the validating team found the RT-PCR test results that the seven tourists presented upon arrival were fakes and were subsequently nabbed.
A number of tourists have attempted to enter Boracay using fraudulent RT-PCR test results, only to be caught and charged in court.
De Dios warned tourists who may be planning to go to Boracay against using fake RT-PCR test results, saying they will only find themselves in trouble.
“There is a very big possibility we will discover you are using fake COVID-19 test results,” said De Dios.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said 718 tourists, including 10 babies, from NCR Plus (National Capital Region, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite) arrived in Boracay last Saturday.
The tourists went to Boracay on seven flights through the Caticlan airport.
Meanwhile, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Saturday night encouraged the public to visit local tourist destinations near them while ensuring that they continue to follow minimum health protocols and abide by restrictions imposed by the national and local government.
Andanar, in his radio program Cabinet Report- the New Normal, noted that local travel and staycations travelers are now allowed for travelers from areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ areas.
“It is probably time that, now that we are under the pandemic, to look around us with a fresh pair of eyes. There are many reasons for us to visit the places where we are,” he said.
“Let us revisit our country beginning with our own places and the places nearby and let’s rediscover the Philippines. I am almost sure that there is a lot more to it than we already know,” he added.
The NCR Plus is under GCQ with heightened restrictions until June 15.
Under this quarantine classification, leisurely trips including staycation within the NCR Plus bubble are allowed while travel from NCR Plus to areas under GCQ and MGCQ are permitted without age limit but only for point-to-point travel, and subject to COVID-19 tests and restrictions imposed by the local government unit (LGUs) of destination.
Indoor tourist attractions are not allowed in areas under the heightened GCQ but allowed to operate at 30 percent capacity in areas under the normal GCQ.
Outdoor tourist attractions are only allowed to operate up to 30 percent capacity under the heighted GCQ and up to 50 percent under the normal GCQ.
Staycations in hotels with Certificates of Authority to Operate for Staycations are allowed up to 100 percent capacity and without age restrictions, and up to 30 percent and without age restrictions in government-accredited hotels. Under GCQ, hotel operations are allowed.
QUEZON CITY
Mayor Joy Belmonte yesterday directed the Quezon City Legal Department to investigate the barangay captain and president of the homeowners’ association in Matandang Balara where 72 residents tested positive of COVID-19 after attending a wedding reception last month.
“We observed that super-spreader events have been multiplying. The spread could’ve been prevented but we see that some people, including persons in authority, have started to become lax in the enforcement and practice of minimum health protocols,” Belmonte said in a statement.
Belmonte ordered an investigation into the liability of barangay captain Allan Franza and homeowners’ association president Don Brabante for their failure to prohibit or stop the party.
City legal officer lawyer Orlando Paolo Casimiro has issued a show-cause order to Franza asking him to explain why he should not be held criminally and administratively liable for his inaction, while a complaint for violation of health protocols for permitting a mass gathering beyond what is allowed by the government was filed against Brabante.
“If it will be proven that Mr. Brabante had approved the gathering and the drinking session that followed the wedding, failed to enforce our health and safety protocols, or report the same to the authorities as referenced by one of the index cases, then he may be held criminally liable pursuant to Rule VI, Section 2(h) of the IRR in relation to Section 9(d) of RA 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act. The same is true for Punong Barangay Franza,” said Casimiro.
The City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU) said 255 residents of Area 7, Matandang Balara were swabbed after the party. Of this, 72 tested positive of the coronavirus.
Most of the patients are now admitted in different HOPE facilities, others are isolated in their homes. Among those who are on home quarantine are five minors, one pregnant adult, and one senior citizen.
Likewise, the QC government has tapped the help of different motorcycle riders’ groups in the enforcement of health protocols in the city.
More than 300 riders in Quezon City have volunteered to be part of the augmentation team.
Once deployed, the riders will be authorized to arrest individuals who will be caught not wearing a face mask and face shield, not observing social distancing, and those attending mass gathering events, among others.
The rider-volunteers will start their duties today. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Noel Talacay
