Pangilinan wants gov’t to pay for inbound passengers’ COVID-19 test

Senator Francis Pangilinan on Thursday proposed that the COVID-19 test of inbound passengers should be shouldered by the government, especially for the Filipinos who will return to the country in order to relieve them from additional expenses.

In a statement, Pangilinan stressed that passengers are already financially burdened by the ongoing health crisis and requiring them to use up their hard-earned money for COVID-19 testing is “unwarranted.”

The lawmaker also hinted about the corruption perpetuated by some private testing companies supported by their “corrupt backers in the government.”

“Bakit hinahayaan ng gobyerno na pinagkakakitaan ang proteksyon sa ating kalusugan?” Pangilinan asked.

(Why does the government allow these firms to take advantage of the COVID-19 test that protect our health?)

“Mas mainam na sagutin na ng pamahalaan ang swab test ng lahat ng inbound passengers, lalo na ng ating OFWs, para mabawasan ang kanilang pinansiyal na pasanin,” he added.

(It is better for the government to shoulder the cost of the swab test for inbound passengers, especially our OFWs, to lessen their expenses.)

Pangilinan also told the national government to follow the lead of Cebu province where the COVID-19 test of returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) are free.

He earlier expressed support for Cebu’s double-swabbing policy for ROFs and pushed for its nationwide implementation.

“I believe it is an efficient and cost-effective way of managing the spread of the virus given the current situation. It is worth adapting as a national policy," Pangilinan said in his previous statement.

Cebu's provincial ordinance on testing and quarantine protocols differed from that of the IATF as passengers arriving from abroad must undergo swab testing for COVID-19 upon arrival at the airport.

Following a negative test result, the traveler would be allowed to go into home quarantine.

Under the IATF-approved quarantine protocols, returning Filipinos and OFWs are quarantined in a government facility. They are given an RT-PCR test on the seventh day of quarantine.

Once they test negative, they will finish the remainder of the 14-day quarantine at home.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered the Cebu provincial government to comply with the COVID-19 quarantine protocols being implemented by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF).

However, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia last Tuesday stood firm on the implementation of the province’s COVID-19 protocols instead of those set by the national government, saying the provincial ordinance would be imposed unless a proper court declares it as “ultra vires” or beyond its power.—AOL, GMA News