HOTELS which serve as quarantine facilities for inbound passengers will now be subjected to random checks from authorities, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
In a televised interview on Monday, Interior spokesperson Jonathan E. Malaya disclosed that Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año issued the order to the Philippine National Police (PNP) after the reported case of a Filipina who arrived from the United States was able to avoid mandatory quarantine in a hotel in Makati last month.
Currently, at least 150 hotels in Metro Manila alone are accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and may serve as quarantine facilities.
“Secretary Año wants the police to make the visit to make sure those who are listed to be under quarantine will not be able to leave [the hotel] until their RT-PCR [Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction] result comes out to stop the absentee quarantine modus,” Malaya said.
The Filipina in question arrived in the country on December 22, before she skipped quarantine protocols and went partying in Barangay Poblacion in Makati City the following day, earning her the monicker “Poblacion girl.”
On December 27, 2021, her swab test showed she was positive for Covid-19.
Possible liability
Malaya said of the 15 people who had close contact with her, seven also tested positive for Covid-19, while for those who had secondary contact with her, at least one also became infected.
“So it was really a superspreader event, when Poblacion girl was able to enter and leave her quarantine hotel,” Malaya said.
Government officials earlier said the concerned Filipina and those who allowed her to skip quarantine can face imprisonment for violating quarantine protocols.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) also noted the concerned hotel could also lose its accreditation and have its operation shut down.
Citing the initial investigation by the PNP-CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group), Malaya said the hotel where the Filipina stayed is likely to be held liable for the incident.
Malaya said hotels that serve as quarantine facilities have the responsibility to ensure that people staying in their establishments strictly comply with quarantine protocols.
Strictly monitored
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) noted that such violation of quarantine protocols is unlikely for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) since they are closely monitored by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
“We have a listing of all our OFWs, who arrived and are monitored by us since we are the ones who welcome them, pay for their hotel accommodations and pay for their transportation cost,” Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said in a virtual press briefing last Monday.
“So we are closely monitoring them and they cannot skip [quarantine],” he added.
He noted that the “Poblacion girl” was not part of their jurisdiction since she was not an OFW.
OWWA earlier reported it was able to extend aid, which includes hotel accommodations, to over 800,000 OFWs since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.