The reopening of Boracay to tourists in Western Visayas on Tuesday was spoiled after the authorities confirmed that a female staff of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Region 6, who had stayed behind on the island, tested positive for COVID-19.
Aklan acting mayor Frolibar Bautista says the patient was on the island from June 12 to 14 to attend a conference, and now the local government is conducting contact tracing to isolate those who had close contact with her.
“Our opening yesterday was not good because of what happened,” Bautista said.
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BFP personnel had held a “despedida party” last week, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said Wednesday.
The group said they were attending a conference of the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force from June 12 to 14, but they had already left the island by then.
“What’s worse is that they knew it was prohibited, and they said they were with us but we had already left. Some 24 personnel were there. That was prohibited,” Puyat said.
She says her department will revoke the license of the hotel who hosted the group because it did not have permission to operate at the time.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año has ordered the relief of the BFP’s director in Region VI following the alleged breach of quarantine protocols of one of its personnel in Boracay.
Año said he had appointed Fire Senior Superintendent Jerry Candido, director for logistics of BFP-National Headquarters, to be the officer-in-charge of BFP-Region VI following the relief of Fire Senior Superintendent Roderick Aguto.
“We will never tolerate any wrongdoing by our BFP personnel or any other DILG personnel for that matter because lives are at stake here,” Año said.
Bautista said initial investigation showed that the female patient went to the island with a pending COVID-19 test.
“Lumabas na naka-quarantine pala siya sa Iloilo City pero ang report ay galing daw ng Cebu, then nag-quarantine doon tapos umuwi sa Iloilo,” Bautista said.
“Pina-rapid test daw at negative, so pina-swab test pa kaya naka-quarantine pa siya. Hindi pa lumabas ‘yong resulta pero umalis sa Iloilo at pumunta sa Boracay.”
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Before the incident, Bautista said, eight establishments on the island secured their certificate of authority to operate from the Department of Tourism, with 632 rooms made available for the Filipino tourists who were expected to visit the island on reopening day.
However, Bautista said only a few tourists arrived.
“‘Yong expectation namin, hindi natupad,” he said.
“Hindi maganda kasi very discouraging na mangyari ‘yan, especially sa mga tourists natin na excited na pumunta sa Boracay. Siyempre ‘pag narinig ‘yang balita na ‘yan, ‘yong iba diyan mag-aatrasan.”
So far, Bautista said, the 59 people who had close contact with the patient were now under quarantine.
He urged the residents of Western Visayas to still visit the island. He assured all tourists that Boracay was strictly implementing health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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