MANILA, Philippines — The government may expropriate private facilities and convert them to quarantine centers or hospitals if the Philippines is hit by a novel coronavirus outbreak, President Rodrigo Duterte said.
While he believes that nCoV will eventually die a "natural death," Duterte has instructed the Health department to prepare rooms or spaces for patients who exhibited symptoms of the disease.
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"I will expropriate. I will get your building whether you like it or not, whether it is on times of emergency... It is confiscatory in nature," the president told reporters in Malacañang Monday night.
"You confiscate, then you make it a hospital bringing in the equipment inside the building where the egress and ingress is controlled," he added.
Duterte said the government may use the drug rehabilitation facility at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija donated by a Chinese philanthropist to accommodate patients who have to be quarantined or treated.
"But that building I think the first building is vacant, not used. Problem is I think the governor is against (the conversion of the building to a hospital). It's in Fort Magsaysay. That building is inside a national government reservation. It's spacious," Duterte said.
"I will place a lot of people there if the contagion actually... It’s epidemic if it is just regional or local or national. It is pandemic if it is worldwide," he added.
Previous reports said Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali is against the conversion of the Mega Drug Rehabilitation Center in Fort Magsaysay into a quarantine center. The drug rehabilitation center was launched in 2016 as part of the Duterte administration's campaign against illegal drugs.
Duterte said agencies have not yet finalized the sites of the quarantine facilities, noting that the Philippines only has two confirmed cases of nCoV.
"It is not yet needed but I said we will prepare," he said.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the drug rehabilitation center in Fort Magsaysay would "most probably" be used as a quarantine facility.
"The huge facility can accommodate a lot if need be. In the meantime, all our different government hospitals have their own quarantine facilities. Our government hospitals are ready to implement the quarantine protocols," Nograles said in a media forum Tuesday in Quezon City.
Duterte said the government is also buying face masks to protect the public from the virus.
"We are procuring and we have supplies coming in. The supply is depleted because there is an emergency and there's a need for it. So everybody is buying. That's the reason why there is a scarce supply in the market. Without the virus, the masks are not being sold by the thousands. The virus raised the prices," he said.
Nograles said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez has spoken with local manufacturers and importers of the mask to augment the supply of the medical tool.
"I think the scarcity comes with the problem of hoarding... it is creating some sort of panic among our people. There is the tendency for our countrymen... to purchase more than what is required," Nograles said.
"We are asking our countrymen not to hoard face masks," he added.