IATF experts coming to Cebu to study local protocols

CEBU, Philippines —  Health Secretary Francisco Duque III will be coming to Cebu with medical experts of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to sit with local officials and study the policies implemented in the province.

“Our secretary has committed to visit Region 7 and Cebu province this coming week, if not next week, so that we can see first-hand these best practices and we can further discuss the data done by our colleagues from the province of Cebu,” Health Undersecretary Alethea de Guzman said during the virtual hearing of the Overseas Workers Affairs of the House of Representatives on June 17 where one of the agenda was the plight of arriving Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) due to the protocols imposed.

Cebu province and the IATF have been at odds with the policy to be implemented with respect to OFWs and ROFs. Cebu imposes a swab-upon-arrival policy, where if a returning Filipino is found negative after one to two days, then he is allowed to continue with his quarantine in his LGU of destination or at home.

The IATF rules, however, provide a 10-day quarantine period for them after arrival, which means the returning Filipino will have to be away from home for a longer period.

During the virtual meeting, de Guzman pointed out that the concern of IATF’s medical experts is not really about swab testing but quarantining arriving OFWs.

“The argument is not really about when we are testing -- if it’s on the first, 5th or in the 7th day. Our experts are stating the need for strict quarantine,” she said.

Furthermore, medical experts, the undersecretary added, are also concerned about the variants of concern which could be brought by the returning OFWs.

De Guzman said the variants are among the factors that led to the surge in COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region and resulted to escalating the area to Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) status last March.

She said this is the situation medical experts are trying to prevent from happening in other parts of the country.

DOH-7’S comments

But DOH-7 spokesperson and chief pathologist Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, in the same meeting, rebutted that quarantine protocols in Cebu are already in place with the help of the Barangay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERTs) and the local government units.

Under the recently-amended Cebu Provincial Ordinance 2021-04, OFWs and ROFs who test negative in their swab upon arrival are allowed to go to their home LGU and continue their quarantine, either in a local government facility or at home, until they will be swabbed again on the 7th day.

“But the thing here is, we have to take into account that if we do not test them upon arrival, and we allow them in the quarantine hotels, the quarantine hotels are not manned 24/7. What is the probability that you do not know who is positive? Who is roaming around may be chatting with the rest of his teammates in the same facility or maybe would go out and buy food or meet with their family members?” Loreche said.

As to the concern about variants, Loreche also reiterated that viruses naturally mutate and create variants.

“That’s the way of the virus. Let us not put in all of these stringent and suffocating rules because we are afraid to think outside of the box. These are issues we have to consider,” she told stakeholders in the virtual meeting.

Loreche told reporters after the meeting that it is the “containment measure, our policy, emergency response, our community response as a whole which we do have in Cebu, that is why we are pushing for our protocol.”

Loreche also said that the governor already received a copy of Duque’s “critique” on Cebu’s policy as per order of President Rodrigo Duterte during their meeting on March 29.

PB invitation

Meanwhile, the Provincial Board will be formally inviting IATF members and medical experts to come over to Cebu on June 28.

The board will pass a resolution for this purpose during its regular session on Monday. On the same day, DOH-7 Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas and Loreche are also expected to brief the legislative body of the COVID-19 situation in Cebu.

“Atong tan-awon, atong paminawon unsa ilang (IATF) bases. Kay kita pud, I’m sure naa pud ta’y data,” Vice Governor Hilario Davide III said.

As for the questioned provincial ordinance that imposes the swab-upon-arrival policy for OFWs and ROFs, Davide explained that there are two ways to invalidate the measure: by repeal and by court declaration that it is ultra vires, meaning beyond the PB’s power, or that it is unconstitutional.

“Unless ma-repeal (by the provincial board), unless i-declare sa korte, ang korte maoy modeklarar nga ang balaod ultra vires, nga wala magsubay sa Constitution sa balaod. Hangtod there’s no court declaration, the ordinance remains valid,” Davide said.

Davide, a lawyer, said that as far as the province is concerned, the ordinance is the law of Cebu province and it is still “in full force and in effect.”

Davide’s remarks were in response to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año’s earlier statement that the President Duterte’s order can override local ordinances. — JMD (FREEMAN)