Gordon flags high prices of COVID-19 tests in airports

Philippine Red Cross chairman and Senator Richard Gordon on Tuesday said the government should look into the increasing prices of COVID-19 tests in airports.

"Buti sinabi ng President 'yung corruption. Siguro dapat tingnan 'yan dahil biglang nagtaasan doon sa airport 'yung mga test at marami na ngayong nagte-test doon. Balita ko sa labas ginagawa... Ang test nila umaabot ng hanggang P20,000 kung madalian talaga," Gordon said in an interview on CNN-Philippines.

"Ang pinupuntirya nila 'yung mga OFW, dual citizenship at saka mga foreigner. Sasabihin nila within 24 hours matetest namin kayo, bayad kayo ng P12,000," he added.

"Ngayon lang kami nagpunta sa airport. Ayaw namin makialam doon eh. Napilitan kami dahil lumalabas nagko-complain sa amin, ginagamit pa 'yung aming stationary ng ibang magtetest. Sinasabi Philippine Red Cross sila. Nung nagpunta kami balita ko medyo nagdahan-dahan sila pero tumitira pa rin 'yang mga 'yan," Gordon further said.

Earlier in the day, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said the government is offering free COVID-19 testing for arriving OFWs.

"Ito po ay libre. ‘Yung buong proseso na dini-describe ko ay libre," OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac told GMA News' Unang Hirit in an interview.

"Nababalitaan nga po namin na may mga private laboratories daw na nandoon sa NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport)," he added.

Cacdac said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade have ordered an investigation into the operation of private laboratories inside the airport.

Airports

In a separate online interview with reporters, Gordon said this surge in prices of COVID-19 tests offered by the private sector was observed at airports in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Clark.

He showed screenshots of messages from some of his sources complaining over higher prices of COVID-19 tests conducted by the private sector which ranges from P7,000 to P20,000.

"The government can control it," Gordon said when asked who should regulate the price of the services.

The PRC has temporarily stopped accepting samples for PhilHealth-funded COVID-19 tests since October 14 due to an unsettled debt of the state health insurer, which Gordon said has already reached P1.1 billion.

The tests covered by PhilHealth include those for returning overseas Filipino workers, frontline health and government workers, individuals through mega swabbing facilities and local government units, and others included in the expanded testing guidelines of the Department of Health. — RSJ, GMA News