Bong Go sees possible 'syndicate' allowing persons to skip mandatory quarantine

Senator Bong Go on Friday called on authorities to look into possible "syndicate" operating in airports and quarantine facilities after reports of a traveler who skipped quarantine and attended a party in Makati City.

Go made the call after Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat confirmed that the individual, a woman returning from the United States, was able to skip the five-day mandatory quarantine supposedly due to "connections."

He also lauded the Department of Tourism (DOT) for the urgent action on the matter.

"I appeal to DOJ and NBI to look at possible syndicate operating where people required to undergo the mandatory quarantine are able to skip it by paying certain sums of money,” Go said in a statement, referring to the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation.

"Kaya dapat tingnan din kung meron bang modus operandi, mula sa mga paliparan hanggang sa mga quarantine facilities [We should also look at whether there is a modus operandi from airports to quarantine facilities]," he added.

Go, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, urged the authorities to prosecute those who violate the quarantine protocols, adding that there should be “no working in favors” when it comes to rules and regulations.

“Dapat walang pabor-pabor pagdating sa regulasyon. Kahit taga gobyerno ka man o marami kang perang pambayad, dapat maparusahan ka kung mapatunayang may paglabag kang ginawa. Sana magsilbi itong babala sa lahat,” he added.

(There should be no favors when it comes to regulation. Whether you are from the government or you have a lot of money to pay, you should be punished if you are proven to have committed a violation. Hopefully, this will serve as a warning to everyone.)

Puyat said the DOT already asked the hotel in question to explain how an individual was allowed to leave a quarantine hotel before finishing the prescribed quarantine period.

She noted that failure to comply with health and safety protocols as ordered by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) could lead to criminal and administrative penalties.  —Richa Noriega/KBK, GMA News