‘Don’t let the virus kill our humanity’

As the whole of Luzon and other major cities in the country continue to deal with the enhanced community quarantine, AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Representative Sharon Garin is renewing her call to end the discrimination against COVID-19 patients, persons under monitoring (PUM), persons under investigation (PUI), frontliners, and their families.

The statement comes after some 36,000 residents of Guimbal, Iloilo were tagged by the Department of Health – Region 6 (DOH) as PUM after local transmission of COVID-19 was confirmed in the town. Due to proclamation, a pregnant staffer of the party-list who resides in Guimbal was denied admission by two hospitals for fear of being a carrier of the virus.

“Stigma will destroy our society, not the virus. Thoughtlessness of an individual exacerbates it,” Rep. Garin said in a press release.

As of April 2, Director Marlyn Convocar of DOH has recanted their first proclamation, stating that “since the municipality of Guimbal is on enhanced community quarantine, all persons are (already) on strict quarantine and (not all are PUMs).”

In this light, Rep. Garin further underscored that every Filipino has the right to appropriate medical care and humane treatment. She also echoed the stand of DOH and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), denouncing any form of discrimination patients and frontliners.

“We all have the responsibility to make well-informed decisions to ensure that no gets left behind. Don’t let the virus kill our humanity. We can combat this enemy with empathy and proper information,” Rep. Garin said.