Pasay police to file criminal raps vs balikbayan for escaping quarantine center

MANILA, Philippines — Pasay police on Thursday said it would file criminal complaints against a balikbayan (returning Filipino) who left the quarantine center without finishing his 14-day isolation.

Pasay police chief Colonel Cesar Paday-os said they would lodge “disobedience to a person in authority Article 151 of RPC [Revised Penal Code]” against Igor Mocorro, who flew from Los Angeles, US,  and left the isolation facility on Roxas Boulevard last Jan. 3, 2021.

Earlier, Paday-os said investigators went to Mocorro’s residence in Malate, Manila but he was not there.

According to Pasay City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU), Mocorro surrendered to Manila police station at around 2 p.m. He will return to the hotel quarantine center, Pasay CESU added.

It is still unknown whether Mocorro tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the causative agent of the coronavirus disease.

Under the national government rules, “balikbayans” may enter the country as long as they secure a booking at a quarantine facility and have a swab test schedule at Philippine airports. [ac]