Four Boracay tourists nabbed for tampered RT-PCR test results

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Four tourists from the National Capital Region (NCR) were barred from entering Boracay Island early Tuesday evening after they allegedly presented tampered reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results.

Lieutenant Colonel Don Dicksie de Dios, Malay police chief, said the four male tourists were intercepted at the Tabon Port in Caticlan, Malay.

“The RT-PCR test results that they presented appeared to be legitimate. However, it was tampered to a later date,” de Dios said.

A negative RT-PCR result released within 72 hours of travel is a requisite for tourists who wish to go to Boracay.

After presenting the result, they are given a provisional quick reaction (QR) codes while their test results are being validated.

De Dios said the tourists came from Negros Occidental on board a car.

After they were flagged at Tabon Port, they were immediately taken to the Aklan provincial quarantine facility in Kalibo town.

They already underwent swab test Wednesday morning.

De Dios said the seven tourists would be charged for violation of Republic Act 11332 (Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act) and Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code (falsification of documents).

Almost a week ago, seven tourists from Luzon were also caught in Boracay Island with fake swab test results.

The seven, whose ages ranged between 30 and 40 years old, were part of a group of tourists who arrived on June 4 and stayed at a hotel in Boracay’s Station 2 at Barangay Balabag.

They were extracted from the hotel on the same day and taken to the province’s quarantine facility in Kalibo town.

Two months ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has given authority to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the proliferation of fake RT-PCR test results presented by tourists entering Boracay Island.