Senator Manny Pacquiao. Cesar Tomambo/Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday urged hotel owners to lend their hotels as quarantine facilities especially with the planned mass testing for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.
Pacquiao said that there should be enough quarantine facilities available to prevent hospitals from being filled with COVID-19 positive patients.
The senator said hotels can be used as additional isolation facility of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) for new confirmed cases, patients under investigation (PUIs) and persons under monitoring (PUMs).
He underscored that hotels can be used as medical quarters since they already have beds and restrooms which can aid in separating new patients from the rest of the community.
“Kailangan nating magkaisa para magtagumpay tayo sa laban natin kontra COVID-19. Alam ko po na apektado rin tayo ng krisis pero ito po ay isang magandang pagkakataon na makatulong sa bayan. Dahil wala ibang aalalay sa Pilipino kung hindi ang kapwa rin niya Pilipino,” Pacquiao said in a statement.
(We need to unite so we would succeed in our fight against COVID-19. I know that you are also affected by the crisis but this is a good opportunity to help our countrymen. No one will help a Filipino other than a fellow Filipino.)
Likewise, Pacquiao said that hotels can also be used as a transient home for frontliners who fear of possibly infecting their loved ones or are having a hard time traveling from their home to work due to stoppage of public transport.
Pacquiao also assured that the hotels, which will be converted into quarantine facilities, will be properly disinfected once normal operations resume.
“Nagpapapasalamat ako sa mga kabayanihan ng ating mga frontliners ganun din sa mga kababayang nating mga negosyante na bukas ang puso na makipag tulungan sa ating panawagan upang tulungan ang ating bansa. Ngayon po ang panahon upang ipakita natin ang pagmamahal sa ating mga kababayan,” Pacquiao said.
(We thank our frontliners for their heroism as well as kind-hearted Filipino businessmen who are helping in our call to help our country. This is the time for us to show our love for our countrymen.)
Pacquiao earlier offered his hotel in General Santos City to serve as a quarantine facility in the local government.
The senator added that businessman Wilbert Te Lee has also volunteered to allot as much as 3,000 rooms from his network of hotels in Bataan, Tagaytay, Leyte, and Albay.