Interior Secretary Eduardo Año | PHOTO: PCOO FB
MANILA, Philippines — Another Filipina who returned to the country from the United States, who also evaded COVID-19 quarantine protocols by staying in her condominium unit instead of a quarantine hotel, is now under investigation, said Interior Secretary Eduardo Año.
Año confirmed on Wednesday that the alleged violations of the so-called ‘massage girl’ — as she boasted of having a massage even if she was supposed to be in quarantine — are now being checked by the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).
Año also clarified that most quarantine hotels are responsible, unlike in the case of the ‘Poblacion girl’ — another quarantine evader whose hotel failed to notify authorities about her escape.
“In fact, these hotels are also reporting if there is a no-show in their hotel. Just like, I think you are familiar with the one mentioned by (Tourism) Secretary Berna Puyat, there’s this ‘massage girl’ na galing from U.S. also, last December 22, nagpahatid siya sa kanyang quarantine hotel,” Año told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
“Pero may isang kotse palang nag-aantay ‘don, hindi na siya nag-check in do’n, deretso siya sa kanyang condo sa BGC (Bonifacio Global City), and nagpost-post pa, nagpa-massage pa […] The CIDG is already investigating that case,” he added.
READ: Puyat: Quarantine violator arrested after posting massage session on social media
According to Año, the system in place can actually check if a returning overseas Filipino (ROF) has complied with quarantine protocols, as all his or her movements from the time of arrival in the country are documented — from the transportation to the hotel, and even to the testing facility.
He said that aside from the hotel notifying the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) about the absence of the ‘massage girl,’ the testing facility from the Philippine Airport Diagnostic Laboratory (Padlab) also informed them that she left her quarantine hotel without permission.
Año said this was revealed when she asked to have her swab test done at her condominium unit at the BGC in Taguig City, as Padlab informed her that she should actually be in a quarantine hotel.
When confronted, the so-called ‘massage girl’ said she was allowed by the BOQ to skip quarantine, but failed to show any document.
“Kaya pagdating dito sa hotel, upon checking, dapat magsa-submit ng report ang hotel sa BOQ. And even sa mga testing laboratories […] nando’n din ‘yon kaya nga nabuking si Ms. Massage Girl, kasi no’ng nagpapa-swab na siya, sinabi niya doon siya isa-swab sa condo niya, ang sabi no’ng Padlab, ‘Ma’am you should be in Seda Residences Hotel according to our record’,” Año said.
“Ang sinabi niya meron siyang BOQ exemption pero that’s not true because the BOQ denied it, and she cannot show any document exempting her from quarantine,” he added.
Año said that they will reveal the name of the offender once the formal investigation is completed.
‘Massage girl’ is not the first quarantine evader to be probed by the CIDG. On Tuesday, complaints for violation of Republic Act No. 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act were filed against Gwyneth Chua or whom netizens called ‘Poblacion girl’, as she chose to evade quarantine and go partying at Makati’s Poblacion district instead.
Aside from Chua, the CIDG also filed complaints against her parents, one companion, and five officials and employees from her quarantine hotel.
READ: ‘Poblacion girl’, 8 others face rap over COVID-19 quarantine breach
READ: DOT: Filipina from US with ‘connections’ skipped quarantine, partied in Makati
On Monday, the CIDG said Chua’s parents were included in the case after the investigation showed that she checked in at the Berjaya Hotel Makati on December 22 at 11:23 p.m. but was “fetched from the same hotel by her own father with an SUV and drove off” less than 20 minutes later.
Investigators also confirmed her presence at a restaurant in Makati City on the night of December 23.
The country is currently dealing with a sharp uptick in COVID-19 infections, which some speculate may be due to the more infectious Omicron variant. As of Tuesday, the country’s active COVID-19 infections swelled to 29,809, after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 5,434 new infections.
READ: PH posts 5,434 new COVID-19 cases; 611 recoveries
The uptick came after a relatively low number of daily cases before the holidays — ranging from 300 to 500 with the active case count down to below 10,000.