Balikbayan couple miss kin's wake due to Philippine COVID-19 quarantine rules

Published January 15, 2022 9:08pm A returning overseas Filipino (ROF) couple from the United States were not able to attend the wake of their relative due to Philippine COVID-19 quarantine rules, according to Nico Waje’s “24 Oras Weekend” report on Saturday. Caesar Leynes, a ROF from the US, arrived with his wife and sister-in-law last January 1 to attend the wake of his mother-in-law in La Union. However, their relative was laid to rest last January 10 but they were still at an isolation facility in Nasugbu, Batangas. Leynes said he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 when they were swabbed at a quarantine facility - a five-star hotel in Ermita, Manila. The couple paid for their stay at the facility. According to Leynes, they understood the quarantine protocols but they received their test results only after four days. He said that his sister-in-law got her test result on the day she was tested. “Until now wala po kaming PDF copy na detailed test result nung aming swab test. Nang tumawag at nag-email po ang BOQ sa amin, nang tumawag po sila ang tanong ko po sa kanila bakit wala kaming kopya anong basis ninyo na kami ay positive,” Leynes said. (Until now we do not have a PDF copy of the detailed test results of our swab test. When the BOQ called and emailed us, I asked them why were we not given a copy of the results and what was their basis that we tested positive.) “Alam ninyo po ang sagot sa akin? Sabi nila ang may responsibility raw po na magbigay sa amin ng resulta ay yung testing laboratory. Sila po ay nagtuturuan,” he added. (They said that the one responsible for giving us the test results is the testing laboratory. They are passing the buck.) Since they doubted their test results and wanted to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law, they took antigen and RT-PCR tests at another laboratory. Their results yielded negative for COVID-19. “Kasi sinabi sa akin ng operations nila na kapag makapagpakita kami ng negative test result, RT-PCR from a private accredited laboratory pwede nila kaming i-check out,” Leynes said. (If we present a negative test result and take the RT-PCR test from a private accredited laboratory, they will allow us to check out.) Leynes said the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) did not accept their test results. He, however, admitted that they had symptoms on their second day in the quarantine hotel. However, Leynes said that the symptoms could have been due to the “dusty” conditions at the Ermita isolation facility. The couple has been in a quarantine facility for 15 days. Leynes said personnel had already assisted them and they were hoping that they would be released from the quarantine facility on Sunday, January 16. “Kawawa po ang mga nagbabalikbayan naiistress na po, naapektuhan na po ang health because of poor condition ng mga facilities ay nabubutas pa po ang bulsa kawawa naman po ang mga katulad namin na nagquaquarantine,” he added. (Some of the ROFs are already stressed and our health is affected because of the poor condition of some facilities. Also, the expenses are burning a hole in our pockets.) GMA News is trying to get the side of the BOQ regarding the situation of the couple. Meanwhile, Dr. Roberto Salvador, deputy chief of BOQ, earlier said that there were delays in the release of the test results from the laboratories. “Baka po ang delay is the release of the result ng laboratories po which is wala po kaming control po, madami po talagang mga labs na naapektuhan din ng COVID-19 surge ang mga employees kaya may delay po ng kaunti sa pagrelease nila ng results,” Salvador said. (Maybe there was a delay in the release of the results from the laboratories which we have no control over. There are really many laboratories whose employees were also infected by the COVID-19 surge so there is a slight delay in releasing the results.) “Kaya po wala pong magiging delay sa issuance ng certificate dahil wala na pong human intervention po ‘yun. Automatic po nilalabas na po ng system po,” he added. (That is why there will be no delay in the issuance of the certificate because there is no human intervention, it is automatically issued by the system.) — Richa Noriega/DVM, GMA News