Marikina to open COVID test facility without DOH approval

MARIKINA, Philippines — The Marikina City government will open its own coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing center this Friday even without approval from the Department of the Health (DOH), Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said yesterday.

In a press briefing, Teodoro invoked “local autonomy” to promote the public’s “general welfare and health,”citing Section 16 of the Local Government Code, in their decision to operate the COVID-19 testing center located in a two-story building in Barangay Concepcion Uno.

Teodoro said he couldn’t care less if the national government would sue him for pushing through with the testing center even without getting a license to operate from the DOH.

He said he believes the DOH’s lack of action is a much heavier offense “because lives are lost.”

DOH Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire explained that the city still had not completed the requirements for operating a COVID testing center. She warned that Marikina residents would suffer if Teodoro insisted on opening the center.

According to Teodoro, the DOH has not coordinated with them for almost a month after it thumbed down its initial proposed testing center at the city’s health office. The city government has chosen the building at Concepcion Uno as another location.

DOH inspection

Minutes after Teodoro’s announcement at around 10 a.m., a team from the DOH arrived and inspected the testing center.

In a statement, the DOH said the team was headed by Mark Anthony Leviste, a medical officer from the DOH’s Health Facilities Standards and Regulation Bureau. The results of the assessment were not available as of press time.

The testing center will begin taking swabs from residents as well as those in neighboring areas.

Teodoro said first in line are about 200 persons under monitoring or who had contact with COVID-19 patients but without symptoms.