DOT chief: Passenger from US arrested after skipping quarantine, getting massage
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism reported another quarantine breach.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said a female passenger from the United States did not undergo quarantine and posted about getting a massage on the day she arrived.
This was reported by an informant who personally knows the passenger. The informant gave a sworn affidavit about the quarantine breach.
"Somebody gave the name even gave pictures that on the day she arrived she even got a massage, as in she was even posting it on her Instagram stories. She was very proud that she was skipping quarantine," Puyat said partly in Filipino in an interview with CNN Philippines’ "The Source".
"That person has already been caught," she added.
Puyat said the arrested passenger just claimed she checked into a hotel but the report showed that she never checked in for quarantine. She added that the passenger went directly to her condominium.
The DOT chief has yet to respond to Philstar.com’s request for comment on the custody and whereabouts of the quarantine violator.
The DOT chief in the televised interview, however, said the details on the quarantine violator have already been submitted to the Bureau of Quarantine and the Department of Interior and Local Government.
"I leave it up to them," she said.
'Poblacion incident'
The latest quarantine breach came after a woman, identified as Gwyneth Anne Chua, was able to skip isolation at a hotel in Makati to party and then eventually tested positive for COVID-19. Chua also arrived from the U.S.
Berjaya Makati Hotel, the hotel under probe for the quarantine breach, said sorry "for failing to stop the guest from jumping her quarantine."
The DOT earlier served a Notice to Explain directing the establishment to submit its response to the allegations within the three days.
Puyat said she already read the press release of the Makati hotel but had yet to receive a formal reply from the establishment.
Under the country’s quarantine rules, passengers who arrived from countries and territories under the Yellow list such as the U.S. are required to undergo facility-based quarantine with an RT-PCR test taken on the fifth day, with the date of arrival being the first day.
"Regardless of a negative result, they shall be required to undergo home quarantine up to the 14th day from the date of arrival," the Department of Health said.
Meanwhile, quarantine facilities such as hotels that would break the health and safety protocols of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases may be penalized.
"Failure to comply with the health and safety protocols of the DOT, the DOH, or the IATF-EID may lead to criminal penalties of fines and/or imprisonment, and administrative penalties such as suspension or revocation of accreditation depending on the gravity of the offense," the DOT said in a previous statement.
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