{"id":258883,"date":"2020-06-22T06:31:10","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T10:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=258883"},"modified":"2020-06-22T06:31:10","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T10:31:10","slug":"no-lapses-in-return-of-lsis-to-their-hometowns-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/06\/22\/no-lapses-in-return-of-lsis-to-their-hometowns-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"No lapses in return of LSIs to their hometowns: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the problem lies not in lapses in ferrying LSIs back home, but the lack of available polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits. (File Photo: YANCY LIM\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang believes that there were no lapses done in the process of sending locally stranded individuals (LSIs) back to their respective hometowns amid lawmakers\u2019 calls for the review of the government\u2019s Hatid Probinsya (Hatid Tulong) program.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the problem lies not in lapses in ferrying LSIs back home, but the lack of available polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits.<\/p>\n

Due to the lack of PCR test kits, he explained that LSIs were only issued with medical certificates before being allowed to return to their respective hometowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cSiguro po, wala namang<\/em>\u00a0lapses.\u00a0Ang meron po tayo kakulangan ng<\/em>\u00a0testing kits (Perhaps there are no lapses. The problem we have is the lack of testing kits),\u201d he said in a virtual presser on Monday.<\/p>\n

Roque said local government units (LGUs) were running out of PCR test kits because they were being used mostly for repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).<\/p>\n

\u201cNapakadami po kasing mga<\/em>\u00a0OFWs\u00a0na umuuwi…Naubos po. Sila po ang gumagamit ng mga<\/em>\u00a0testing kits\u00a0natin na<\/em>\u00a0PCR\u00a0at hindi naman tayo pumapayag na<\/em>\u00a0rapid test kits\u00a0lamang no<\/em>\u00a0(There are so many OFWs returning home. We\u2019re running out of test kits. They\u2019re the ones using the PCR test kits because we don\u2019t allow them to undergo rapid test kits only),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The PCR test kits, which are considered as the \u201cgold standard\u201d for diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections, use nose and throat swab samples to find out whether a person is infected with coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Rapid anti-body test kits use blood samples which are unable to detect the virus but instead measures a patient\u2019s antibodies through the sample. These tests are still subjected to PCR confirmatory tests.<\/p>\n

Citing National Policy Against Covid-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., Roque said around 8 million PCR test kits are expected to arrive to augment the existing number of test kits.<\/p>\n

Roque said that once the additional test kits arrive, LGUs would be better prepared to accept LSIs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPag dumating na ito, mabibigyan na po natin ang lahat ng uuwi sa kanilang probinsya ng\u00a0<\/em>PCR test.\u00a0Pero tingin ko naman po, hindi<\/em>\u00a0lapse\u00a0\u2018yan kundi napakadami lang ang umuuwing mga<\/em>\u00a0OFWs (When these test kits arrive, we will be able to give all returning LSIs PCR tests. But I don\u2019t think it was a lapse, because there are too many OFWs returning home),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For the meantime, Roque said LGUs should not panic in case a returning LSI shows symptoms of Covid-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cSiguro nagpa<\/em>-panic\u00a0lang yung ilang mga<\/em>\u00a0LGUs\u00a0natin kasi dati wala silang<\/em>\u00a0Covid case,\u00a0pero wala naman pong problema. Maski magkaroon kayo ng<\/em>\u00a0Covid case,\u00a0i<\/em>-quarantine\u00a0niyo lang po<\/em>, isolate,\u00a0at gamutin<\/em>\u00a0(Perhaps some LGUs are panicking because they previously did not have any Covid cases, but that\u2019s not a problem. Even if they get a new Covid case, just quarantine them, isolate, and treat),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Roque said the government is \u201cpolishing\u201d health and safety protocols for the return of LSIs to their respective hometowns while Galvez noted that the National Task Force will temporarily regulate the Hatid Probinsya (Hatid Tulong) program.<\/p>\n

Last week, 12 lawmakers from Eastern Visayas called for a review of the Hatid Probinsya (Hatid Tulong) program in light of the rising number of Covid-19 cases in their region.<\/p>\n

The joint statement was signed by House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez; Northern Samar Reps. Paul Ruiz Daza and Jose Ong Jr.; Western Samar Reps. Edgar Sarmiento and Sharee Tan; Leyte Reps. Lucy Torres-Gomez, Carl Cari, and Vicente Veloso; Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado; Eastern Samar Rep. Maria Fe Abunda; Biliran Rep. Gerardo Espina Jr.; and Tingog Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang believes that there were no lapses done in the process of sending locally stranded individuals (LSIs) back to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":146495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258884,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258883\/revisions\/258884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}