ACT-CIS solon maintains he didn't breach COVID-19 protocols

ACT-CIS party-list Representative Eric Yap on Thursday maintained he did not violate protocols when he attended the meeting at Malacañang over the weekend even as he already underwent testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Yap made the remark after the Presidential Security Group (PSG) said it intends to file charges against Yap for breach of protocols in Malacañang after he failed to disclose necessary information when he entered the Palace for a meeting on March 21.

"Naiintindihan ko po yung PSG, siyempre trabaho nila yan. Basta ako naman, malinis ang konsensya ko, wala akong nilabag sa protocols," Yap said in a text message shared to reporters.

Yap added that he will just let his lawyer respond to the remark of the PSG.

The lawmaker, who tested positive for COVID-19, had attended the meeting in Malacañang on March 21 to discuss with other government officials and fellow lawmakers the measure granting special authority to President Rodrigo Duterte to address the health emergency.

Several government officials including Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Senator Bong Go, Senator Pia Cayetano, Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado were also in the same meeting.

But according to Yap, the result of his COVID-19 testing had not been released at the time he went to Malacañang for the meeting.

"I attended the meeting and was careful the whole time knowing na I could potentially be a carrier of the virus," he said.

It was only on Wednesday night that received the results of his test, which turned out positive, 10 days after he took it on March 15.

Yap has already apologized and asked for understanding from the individuals he came in contact with.

"Mas nag-ingat tayo dahil wala pang resulta ang test ko. Those who know me personally know that I practice good personal hygiene. But it didn’t spare me from this virus," he said. —LDF, GMA News