Garin proposes free COVID-19 testing, P10,000 minimum for those who test positive

House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Janette Garin (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Janette Garin pushed on Monday for free swab tests for Filipinos and P10,000 to P20,000 aid for those who would test positive for COVID-19.

“While the intention is to recover, the intention is simultaneously winning this pandemic, and in winning this war, we have to see our enemies,” Garin, a former health secretary, said during the interpellation period on the plenary deliberations on the Bayanihan 3 bill.

“And the only way we can see our enemies is to make testing free and the people who are being swabbed will be compensated by the number of days that they are not working,” she added.

Under her recommendation, each person who would be tested would be given between P1,000 to P2,000.

She suggested that the cost of surveillance testing should be charged to the fund of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that would be incorporated in Bayanihan 3.

Those who would test positive would each be given from P10,000 to P20,000, she said. That way they would not have to go out and risk spreading the disease.

Garin said her recommendation would make a “difference” in the fight against the pandemic and the country’s recovery from the crisis.

Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, one of the key proponents of the measure, supported Garin’s proposal.

“Our senior deputy minority leader has a very good idea,” she said, speaking partly in Filipino. “I completely agree that testing is very important and making sure that, in case an individual tests positive, the most important thing is what to do next,” Quimbo said.

Quimbo said Garin’s proposal would be discussed and considered by the authors of the bill.

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