Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and AFP chief of staff Gen. Andres Centino. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
Two senators, both running for office, and the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are among the more than 20,000 most recent COVID-19 cases in the country.
The two senators are Panfilo Lacson, who is running for president, and Sherwin Gatchalian, who is seeking his second term.
Lacson announced on Twitter that he tested positive for the new coronavirus. He took the test on Jan. 4 and got his results on Jan. 6.
He said he immediately informed his physical contacts about the result so that they could take extra precautions.
“Thank God no one is exhibiting symptoms. Wearing our masks helped much,” he said on Twitter.
Lacson said on Tuesday that he was in isolation and had sore throat after getting exposed to a COVID-19 patient.
Gatchalian also announced his COVID-19 diagnosis on Twitter and said he was also in isolation, although he was only experiencing mild symptoms.
“So far, I am only experiencing mild symptoms from the virus, and this goes to show that the vaccines are effective and working against it. I enjoin everyone to get your booster shots right away,” he said.
Also infected is AFP chief of staff Gen. Andres Centino who tested positive on Thursday, but only with mild symptoms, the military confirmed.
Centino was currently staying in an isolation facility at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City “where he will continue to perform his job, albeit in quarantine,” Col. Ramon Zagala, spokesperson for the AFP, said in a statement on Friday.
“He remains in full command of the AFP, supervising all units in carrying out their assigned tasks through all allowed and available means,” he added.
The 54-year-old Centino was fully vaccinated and also received a booster shot. His close contacts were also under quarantine.
Earlier this week, Centino’s boss, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, also said he was in quarantine after being exposed to infected individuals in his household.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the government’s pandemic response measures, are also in self-isolation.
Duque and Galvez were exposed to infected members of their respective staffs.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat also isolated herself on Thursday after she was exposed to a person with COVID-19. INQ