First district Congressman Edgar Chatto says he is not comfortable with the order of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) saying that there is no need for the rapid or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for locally stranded individuals (LSIs) prior to their arrival in the province.
This reaction that Chatto expressed was released to The Bohol Tribune by a reliable source today, Wednesday, May 27.
Chatto said that he is not comfortable about the DILG’s directive that limits the requirements of the LSIs as mentioned by Usec. Jonathan Malaya of the DILG.
Chatto said he learned from Usec. Jonathan Malaya that the LSIs need only two requirements when they go home to their province: a medical certificate from the local government unit of origin and a travel clearance from the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Honestly, Chatto said, he was feeling uneasy about the fact that the testing requirement has been ommitted.
Upon learning about the change in the requirements, Chatto immediately sent a text message to Sec. Eduardo Año of the DILG about the protocol.
For Año’s answer to the text message of Chatto, the latter quoted the following: “For LSIs, the testing is not required unless he has symptoms or has been exposed to a Covid positive person. These people have been on lockdown for two months already. The receiving LGU (local government unit) may test them (the LSIs) using rapid antibody test or put them under 14-day home quarantine in an isolation facility”.
The congressman added that the DILG warned the LGUs not to disobey its directives. The national gov is pushing the LGUs to accept the LSIs wanting to return to their respective hometowns.
The lack of testing goes against Chatto’s advocacy for a robust testing system as a way to guide national policy in dealing, not just with the pandemic, but also in dealing with all other health problems.
To remember, while he was governor of Bohol, Chatto pushed for a branch of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) that is supposed to be placed in the proposed extension site of the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) in Cortes. His advocacy led to the formation of plans to put up a molecular laboratory for Covid testing in the current site of the GCGMH in Tagbilaran City.
Meantime, Chatto says it is important for the various LGUs to be ready to accept the incoming LSIs. It is important, he said, that the quarantine facilities in every town or city in the province are ready with the influx of the LSIs.
Furthermore, he said there is a need to follow the protocols imposed by the province including the 14-day quarantine and to bring to the hospital those who need immediate medical attention.
According to Chatto, those LSIs who already completed the 14-day quarantine may be subjected to a rapid antibody test and those who will test positive in the rapid test will be subjected to PCR test for confirmation.
Meantime, the DILG is asking the LGUs to spare the LSIs from expensive fees when securing the medical certificates as part of the requirements.