Palace sees resumption of COVID-19 testing services as Red Cross agreed to initial payment

By VIRGIL LOPEZ, GMA News Malacañang on Wednesday expressed optimism that the COVID-19 testing services of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will resume soon after the humanitarian organization agreed to the government’s offer of an initial payment of its P930.9-million debt. Speaking to CNN Philippines, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the government will pay half of the debt incurred by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) within this week or next week. “The Red Cross cannot continue functioning unless it also has its cash requirements. And that’s why we give utmost priority to settling at least 50%. Because it is to the interest of both the Red Cross and the country that we continue our PCR testing since the Red Cross is responsible for 25% of all our testing,” he said. “I believe that there’s now an understanding between the government and Red Cross that the services will continue,” Roque added. President Rodrigo Duterte earlier assured the PRC that the government will pay the outstanding balance. The PRC announced last week that it stopped accepting specimens from returning Filipinos, mega swabbing facilities, and local government units, among others, due to mounting unpaid debt. However, the PRC will continue to test individuals who booked their testing through its 1158 helpline or via online, private companies and organizations, and local government units and other government agencies with laboratory testing agreements with the PRC and whose payments are up to date. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Tuesday that around 4,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who returned to the Philippines amid the coronavirus pandemic are stranded in Metro Manila after the PRC stopped processing COVID-19 tests because of the unpaid debt. Over 100,000 OFWs are expected to return home before the end of the year. —KBK, GMA News

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