Iloilo PNP also widens radar against fake RT-PCR results

By Jennifer P. Rendon

The Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) will also be on the lookout for individuals who present fake reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results for their travel requirement.

“And if anyone would be caught using a spurious RT-PCR test result, the police would not have second thoughts in arresting them,” IPPO director Colonel Gilbert Gorero said.

The warning came on the heels of President Rodrigo Duterte’s appeal on Monday for travelers not to use fake RT-PCR test result to sneak into tourist destinations.

In the televised address, Duterte called on the police, tourism, and local government officials to arrest persons who falsified their RT-PCR test results to cross borders.

Gorero said he directed all station chiefs to be on guard against any person who would defy the protocol.

“We are duty-bound to apprehend the violators of protocols being imposed by the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID),” Gorero said.

He also said violators will be placed under strict quarantine pending investigation.

And once proven guilty, they will be charged for falsification of documents.

Fake RT-PCR test results came to light after several tourists were caught possessing spurious papers while entering Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan.

This prompted the Department of Justice (DOJ) to authorize the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the proliferation of fake RT-PCR test results.

It was gathered that several tourists from other tourist destinations in the country were also caught using fake swab test results.

Meanwhile, Gorero also enjoined the public to be more patient with the implementation of measures to stem the spread of COVID-19.

The Iloilo PNP, in partnership with local officials, has established border control points to implement the travel restrictions pursuant to Executive Order 175 issued by Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Jr.

Under EO 175, non-essential travel into and from all the municipalities and Passi City shall be restricted.

Only the authorized persons outside their residences (APORs) will be allowed to travel within the province.

“Bear with us. This is for the greater good of everyone,” Gorero said.