6 Boracay tourists held for fake swab test result

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — For allegedly presenting fake swab test results for coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, six tourists ended up in a quarantine facility in Boracay.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Pablito, Malay police chief, withheld the identities of the tourists from Metro Manila.

The tourists – four females and two males – who are residents of Quezon, Parañaque and Makati, arrived in Boracay over the weekend.

Pablito said authorities noted a discrepancy in the serial number when they checked the real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results presented by the six.

He said he coordinated with the police in Mandaluyong City to check with Safeguard DNA Diagnostic Center, with address in the city and where the six supposedly underwent swab testing.

Pablito said they received a certification from the diagnostic center on Monday attesting that only one of the RT-PCR test results was authentic. The other test results were photocopies and altered.

The Malay police arrested the tourists for falsification of documents and violation of Republic Act 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act and RA 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.

The six were brought to the Aklan Training Center, the province’s COVID-19 facility in Barangay Old Buswang in Kalibo, Aklan. They will undergo swab testing and will be quarantined for 14 days.

Col. Esmeraldo Osia Jr., Aklan police chief, gave assurance that the local police and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases would ensure that minimum health protocols would be implemented for the safety of tourists and residents.

Data from the Malay municipal tourism office shows that 4,154 tourists visited Boracay as of last month.

A majority of the visitors are from Metro Manila.

Boracay reopened to local tourists on Oct. 1.

The Department of Tourism said it would partly subsidize the RT-PCR test of non-Aklan residents in a bid to encourage local tourism.