PNP says it’s not blaming OCD for the death of cop doctor

Photo by National Task Force COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said it is not pointing its finger at the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as the source of the decontamination solution that killed police physician Capt. Casey Gutierrez and injured two others at a temporary quarantine facility in Pasig.

“The Chief PNP wishes to clarify that the Office of Civil Defense is neither blamed nor pointed to as the source of the concentrated disinfectant solution used by medical and healthcare personnel at the Philsports Arena Temporary Treatment and  Monitoring facility,” PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said in a statement.

The remark was made after the OCD denied it provided the disinfectant solution for frontliners at the PhilSports Arena, currently a temporary isolation facility for COVID-19 patients.

“We are not buying and providing decontamination chemicals for the Ultra COVID-19 quarantine facility. The only services that were arranged by OCD are food catering, lodging for servicing personnel, provision of PPEs, hygiene kits, medical equipment and supplies,  janitorial services and waste collection and disposal,” National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) spokesperson Mark Timbal said in a statement issued on Monday.

But the PNP said the OCD must assist in the probe of the police doctor’s death as the agency “accredited service providers in the quarantine facility by the PNP.”

The nation’s police force also noted that the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay, which was also converted into a quarantine center, and PhilSports Arena have different service providers.

“The PNP earlier noted that the chemical disinfectant used in another PNP-managed quarantine facility at the PICC is hypoallergenic and biodegradable and that the PSA-TTMF (PhilSports Arena-Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility) and PICC have different service providers,” Banac said.

PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa earlier said the OCD and service providers of the PhilSports Arena must be included in the investigation of Gutierrez who died due to accidental toxin inhalation at the quarantine facility,

Last May 24, Gutierrez, Staff Sgt. Steve Rae Salamanca and Cpl. Runie Toledo was accidentally sprayed with a concentrated disinfectant solution at PhilSports Arena to suppress the spread of COVID-19.

The spray, however, made it difficult for law enforcers to breathe which prompted officials to rush them to the hospital.

Gutierrez died at the Lung Center of the Philippines on May 30 while Salamanca and Toledo were treated at PNP General Hospital.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1287994/pnp-says-ocd-service-providers-should-be-probed-on-police-doctors-death