MANILA, Philippines — More than 20 personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Western Visayas, including one who tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), were ordered relieved after breaching lockdown protocols in Boracay, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Thursday.
“A total of 28 personnel in the Bureau of Fire Protection Region-6 were relieved of their positions and of course they are undergoing quarantine,” Año told ANC when asked about the relieved personnel of the BFP in Western Visayas.
To recall, Año sacked BFP-6 chief Fire Senior Superintendent Roderick Aguto for command responsibility after it was found that one of his female personnel, whose name was not mentioned, roamed Boracay while waiting for the result of her swab test.
The female BFP personnel later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Año also said the infected BFP personnel arrived in Boracay on June 12 where she had a meeting and partied with 27 other BFP personnel while waiting for her swab test result.
“When she arrived in Boracay on June 12 along with companions, she joined the other Bureau of Fire Protection personnel on Boracay. They went on a meeting and later on they had some drinking and eating and then on June 14, that was the time the result came out and she turned out positive,” Año said.
Año explained that the infected BFP personnel had violated quarantine protocols, saying the 14-day quarantine period must be completed after undergoing a swab test or a rapid antibody testing.
Meanwhile, Año said the 27 other personnel who partied with the infected BFP personnel, were also relieved for violating physical distancing rules.
Año said the quarantine violations committed by the BFP personnel in Boracay caused inconvenience and placed the lives of the other people in Boracay, particularly the staffers of the hotel where they had stayed.
“We have to put on quarantine also 24 staff of the hotel where they billeted. Of course, also the boatmen that serviced them about nine of them and some personnel of BFP, five of them stationed in Boracay,” Año said.