MANILA, Philippines — Senators criticized the leadership of the Department of Health for failing to contact the rest of the co-passengers of a Chinese couple confirmed to have the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease or 2019-nCoV ARD.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told the Senate hearing that only 17% of the 331 airplane passengers who interacted with the
nCoV carriers have
been contacted.
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Duque claimed that Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific are not sharing the contact details of the passengers
due to confidentiality.
Philippine Airlines denied the claims of Duque that it refuses to give the names of the passengers.
PAL Vice President for Security Gen. Cesar Ronnie
Ordoyo told the Senate panel that in tandem with Cebu Pacific, the airlines have given the passenger lists to the Bureau of Epidemiology.
"
As a matter of fact, we have given them the list as required because as per protocol, it would be the Bureau of Quarantine who should
be following this up,"
Ordoyo told the Senate panel.
When asked who is in charge of contact tracing, Duque pointed his finger at DOH epidemiology bureau
Ferchito Avelino for
supposed lack of transparency.
"I don't know the steps, the specific measures of how this should
be done and I hope that you give me a chance to look into this and I'll have it investigated," Duque told the Senate panel.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, meanwhile, suggested that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Civil Aeronautics Board should be in charge of contact tracing.
"What we have here is a glaring example of a failure to communicate," Tugade told the Senate panel.
Tugade added that the DOH does not have ascendancy nor power to force compliance among airlines to conduct contact tracing.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan, meanwhile, blamed the DOH leadership for the low rate of contacted co-passengers of the
nCoV patients in the Philippines.
"I beg to disagree that the secretary of Health is pointing his finger at his underling when there is only 17% of those passengers have
been contacted since this issue erupted," Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan said the issue was not just a mere failure of communication but a failure of leadership on the Health department.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson agreed with Pangilinan's sentiments, pointing out that it should have been the initiative of the DOH to contact the passengers.
"What we have here, as Sen. Pangilinan mentioned, is a failure of leadership... The DOH should be on top of the situation, not the CAAP, not the [Bureau of Immigration],
or the [Department of Transportation] but the DOH," Lacson said.
Lacson stressed that the DOH should not be blaming other agencies as the 2019-
nCoV threat is a health issue.