MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Friday confirmed that six of its agents were classified as persons under investigation (PUIs) for the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, while around 60 others are patients under monitoring (PUMs).
“Parang na sa anim ngayon ang PUI ko at na sa 60 ang PUM. So naka-home quarantine lahat, self-quarantine 'yung mga ahente ko na ito,” PDEA director general Aaron Aquino said in a Friday morning interview with the state-run Radyo Pilipinas.
(I estimate that six are PUIs while around 60 are PUMs. All of them have been placed under home quarantine, my agents are undergoing self-quarantine.)
Aquino said that the agency is appealing to the Department of Health to provide test kits so that the affected agents, who continue to operate, can be examined for COVID-19.
“Hindi namin kasi maiwanan siyempre 'yung mga lahat ng seaports tsaka airports eh. Kahit wala namang flights ngayon, patuloy pa rin 'yung mga cargo na pumapasok,” he said.
(We can’t leave our posts, of course, all the seaports and airports. Even if there are no flights at the moment, cargoes continue to enter the country.)
The director-general said that PDEA needs to remain on guard at local borders even at the height of the coronavirus outbreak in the Philippines since the entry of illegal drugs persists.
“Four days ago nga lang, may nahuli ang interdiction units natin dito sa Clark International Airport, nakapasok na ng illegal drugs...almost P14 million, galing sa California, USA ito (high-grade marijuana),” Aquino said.
(Just four days ago, our interdiction units at Clark International Airport seized almost P14 million worth of illegal drugs, high-grade marijuana from California, USA.)
As of Thursday, the Philippines recorded 4,076 COVID-19 cases with 203 deaths and 124 recoveries.