NBI to probe fake RT-PCR results of Boracay tourists

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) authorized the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the proliferation of fake reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results presented by tourists entering Boracay Island.

On April 23, 2021, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevara issued Department Order No. 88 directing the NBI “to conduct investigation and case build-up on the alleged proliferation of falsified RT-PCR results used in entering Boracay Island.”

If evidence warrants, Guevara wants the NBI, through officer-in-charge Eric Distor, “to file the appropriate charges against those found responsible therefor.”

He also directed Distor to submit reports on the progress of the investigation.

The DOJ-NBI probe was an offshoot of the request of the Aklan provincial government made to the DOJ during the March 18, 2021 meeting of the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF).

Atty. Selwyn Ibarreta, Aklan provincial administrator, said they had earlier decided to tap the DOJ after several tourists were caught presenting a fake RT-PCR test results.

“We decided to bring that out during our last meeting with the BIATF because of the series of discoveries made on fake swab test results,” he said.

When Boracay Island opened for tourists outside of Western Visayas, a negative nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR test result was as one of the requirements for non-residents of Aklan.

As of February this year, 138 individuals were caught presenting fake RT-PCR results.

But Ibarreta said most of them had not set foot in Caticlan, the gateway to Boracay.

“Because we found out that what they have were fake RT-PCR results, they were not given a QR code,” he said.

It can be noted that on the last BIATF meeting, the task force also gave its go signal for the use of saliva RT-PCR test in lieu of the nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR for tourists going to the island.

Authorities and local elected officials deemed that it was one of the reasons why the island had not fetched a higher tourist arrival.

The local government of Malay has been pushing for the saliva test to ease the burden of visiting tourists as it is cheaper, faster, and easier.

While the usual nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR would cost from P3,800 to P4,500, the saliva testing is priced at around P2,000.