Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (Albert Calvelo/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate is eyeing to suspend its plenary debates on the proposed 2022 budget after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who physically attended the deliberations on his agency’s funds, tested positive for the coronavirus.
The budget deliberations will resume on Monday next week, according to Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
“Senate will be disinfected. Then those who had close contact with him (Lorenzana) will have to undergo swab PCR on Saturday or Sunday,” Sotto said in a message to reporters.
Test within 24 hours
Sotto, during Wednesday’s plenary debates on the 2022 budget, said the Senate will now require visitors to present a negative result of a swab test taken within 24 hours.
“The hearing tomorrow may be suspended because of exposure,” Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri told reporters in a message in Filipino on Wednesday.
“We may have to resume on Monday so that we can all get a PCR test over the weekend,” he added.
Before this, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel told his colleagues in plenary that Lorenzana tested positive for the virus.
The defense chief confirmed this and said he received his result Wednesday morning from a swab test he took Tuesday afternoon following the Senate debates on the Department of National Defense budget.
READ: Lorenzana tests positive for coronavirus a day after attending Senate budget hearing
“The proper protocol since we were exposed to Sec. Del yesterday. We must quarantine until Sunday. Testing…tapos kapag lumabas po na negative tayo, we can go back to work on Monday,” Zubiri said.
The majority leader recalled that the Senate faced a similar situation during last year’s budget debates.
It was Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) Director Isidro Lapeña who got COVID-19 at the time.
Lapeña had received his positive swab test result after the Senate deliberations on Tesda’s budget.
READ: Tesda chief Lapeña tests positive for COVID-19
“I recall it was Sec. Lapeña, and shortly after, Sen. Bato dela Rosa also got hit” Zubiri recounted.