MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Friday called for an end to discrimination against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, persons under monitoring (PUM), persons under investigation (PUI), and frontliners.
AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Representative Sharon Garin said that the stigma on those who contracted the disease—including those who are suspected of having the disease—would only “destroy our society, not the virus.”
Garin made the call after the Department of Health – Region 6 (DOH) tagged 36,000 residents of Guimbal town in Iloilo as PUMs following a local transmission in the town.
Following the declaration, a pregnant staffer of Garin’s party-list, who resides in Guimbal, was denied admission by two hospitals fearing that she is a possible carrier of the virus.
Garin said the said declaration has since been recanted by Director Marlyn Convocar of DOH who said that “since the municipality of Guimbal is on enhanced community quarantine, all persons are (already) on strict quarantine and (not all are PUMs).”
“Stigma will destroy our society, not the virus. Thoughtlessness of an individual exacerbates it,” Garin said in a statement.
The lawmaker said that every Filipino has the right to “appropriate medical care and humane treatment.”
“We all have the responsibility to make well-informed decisions to ensure that no gets left behind. Don’t let the virus kill our humanity. We can combat this enemy with empathy and proper information,” Garin said.
As of April 9, there are 4,076 COVID-19 cases in the country, with the death toll reaching 203.