Robredo says OVP staff advised her daughter not to join Swab Cab 

Dr. Tricia Robredo, daughter of Vice President Leni Robredo, conducts a swab test as part of the Swab Cab project in Malabon. (Photo from the Facebook page of Malabon Mayor Antolin Oreta III)

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo’s daughter, Dr. Tricia Robredo, was supposedly warned by her staffers against administering COVID-19 tests for the  Swab Cab project due to safety concerns and exposure to possible COVID-positive individuals.

However, Robredo said on Friday that her daughter, whose photos showing her doing swab tests in Malabon City went viral, eventually relented and stressed that she has a duty to fulfill as a doctor.

The Vice President also revealed that she did not immediately know that her daughter would be the attending physician for the Swab Cab operations last Tuesday, as her name popped up on the sheet only a day before.

“I learned about it the day before that she volunteered. And there were some people in the office who were telling me not to allow Tricia to go,” Robredo told ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart.  “Ako, I trust my daughter. So ako, sinasabi ko sa kaniya, ‘Ang dami sa aking nagsasabi na huwag ka daw mag-volunteer.’”

(Me, I trust my daughter.  So I told her, “a lot of people are telling me not to send you out to volunteer.”)

“So sinasabi ni Tricia, ‘I took an oath. I took an oath na kapag kailangan kami, magse-serve kami’. Tapos sabi niya, ‘Nakakahiya naman yata iyon na we’re asking people to volunteer, tapos ako hindi magvo-volunteer,’” she added.

(But Tricia answered: I took an oath, I took an oath that if we are needed, we would be of service.  Then she said, It is embarrassing that we are asking for people to volunteer, and then I would not do so myself.)

Robredo said that Tricia, who just passed her physician licensure exam on 2020, did not want to make a fanfare out of her participation in the Swab Cab.  She added that her daughter was a last minute replacement to one of their doctors tested positive for coronavirus.

But Robredo said that several people have posted photos of her daughter, including Malabon Mayor Lenlen Oreta who admitted being shocked over seeing Tricia at the helm of the Swab Cab operations.

“Actually, all my kids have been volunteering since last year. Pero ito lang kay Tricia—ang request niya lang, ang request niya, kung puwedeng hindi sabihin na nandoon siya. She didn’t want to make a big deal out of it […] ako I posted already midday, I never mentioned that she was there,” Robredo said.

(Actually, all my kids have been volunteering since last year. But this one for Tricia, her request was that her presence there would not be made public.  She didn’t want to make a big deal out of it […] I posted updates already midday (but) I never mentioned that she was there.

“Yes. I eventually posted about it noong gabi na, kasi ang dami sa aking nagta-tag […] na mga pictures of her. Kasi I think after the swabbing, nagkaroon ng huddle. Parang — alam mo iyon — parang debriefing. So nalaman na ng mga taga-doon na nandoon siya. So the mayor heard about it,” she added.

(Yes. I eventually posted about it by night, because a lot of people are taging me, with photos of her.  Because I think after the swabbing, there was a huddle, like you know, a debriefing.  So the people knew that she was there.  So the mayor heard about it.)

The Swab Cab is a program of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) that seeks to augment COVID-19 testing and prevent further transmissions by bringing the testing facility — in a retrofitted bus — to areas with high infection rates.

Through the initiative, which was done by OVP through the help of private sector partners, they were able to test 1,300 residents in areas that are susceptible to community transmissions.

LOOK: OVP’s Swab Cab rolls in again in Malabon City

Earlier, Robredo said that 80 of the 1,300 tests that they performed turned out positive.  She also noted that the OVP tried to encourage people to have themselves tested by providing food supplies, especially to patients who are infected with the disease.

READ: Robredo rolls out food pack incentives to encourage COVID-19 tests 

The Philippines is currently grappling with a surge in COVID-19 cases, which health experts blame to new variants of concern.  On Friday, the country tallied a record-high 401 newly-reported deaths, bringing the death toll to 14,520.

As of now, the total number of active cases is at 178,351, as 12,225 new cases were reported.

READ: PH logs biggest daily COVID-19 death toll at 401; 12,225 new infections 

JPV