Duterte liaison in Southern Tagalog dies of suspected COVID-19

SAN PEDRO CITY –– President Duterte’s liaison man in the Southern Tagalog region is suspected to have died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in his hometown in Tanauan City in Batangas province.

But Jose Maria Nicomedes Hernandez, Presidential Adviser for the region, had been working from his home lately and therefore had very small chances of being exposed to other national government officials or the president himself, said Batangas health chief Rosvilinda Ozaeta on Monday.

However, she said eight other household members at Hernandez’s farm in Tanauan City recently tested positive for the virus.

His son and Social and Welfare Undersecretary for Policy and Plans, Anton Hernandez, has tested negative.

Hernandez, 72, died on Sunday morning. Ozaeta said hospital records showed severe pneumonia as the cause of death.

At the hospital’s emergency room, doctors collected a specimen sample for the COVID-19 test but the results have yet to come back as of Monday noon, Ozaeta said.

It was not clear if Hernandez underwent a previous COVID test.

“He rarely left his farm but others in the household were in and out,” Ozaeta said. The provincial health office would also conduct another round of tracing among family and close contacts.

Hernandez was appointed Presidential Adviser in December 2016, with compensation of one peso per annum.

Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and the city government of Tanauan expressed sympathies to the family of Hernandez, who was also a former board member of the province.

Batangas recorded 8,486 cases as of Oct. 18. and the only province in Calabarzon that stayed under a stricter quarantine status.

LZB