The last cut was the deepest

Legendary singer Rod Stewart may sing all he wants that the “First Cut Was the Deepest,”but there are employees at the Bureau of Quarantine or BOQ who are singing “The Last Cut Was the Deepest,” referring to a comment allegedly made by President Rodrigo Duterte during a recent address to the nation when he made a comment that elements of the BOQ were involved in the “scam” that allowed Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) to sneak out of quarantine. Whether it was a mere suspicion or a total lie that was fed to the President, nobody knows but it was a statement that cut deep into the morale of the BOQ personnel.

For starters, the business or responsibility of monitoring and managing inbound or returning OFWs, seafarers and ROFs is a shared responsibility of the BOQ, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), MARINA and the Manila International Airport Authority that oversees the NAIA complex and Bureau of Immigration (BI). Based on their distribution of responsibilities, the monitoring and supervision of the “Hotel Quarantine Guests” is not directly assigned to the BOQ. The Bureau of Quarantine “receives” incoming passengers at the various ports as our first line of defense. After travelers clear, they go through the Bureau of Immigration and after that they are assigned to respective counters for their quarantine hotel assignments: Non-OFWs go to the Dept. of Tourism counter / OFWs proceed to OWWA desk / seafarers proceed to the MARINA desk.

Upon processing, they are all dispatched to respective quarantine hotels assisted by the Philippine Coast Guard, MIAA Operations personnel and the Airport Police using authorized transport: ROFs use airport taxies and hotel services only and OFWs use OWWA buses. They are then checked in and swabbed for COVID-19 infection. OFWs are monitored by OWWA house parent, Coast Guard, and hotel staff/security while Non-OFWs are monitored by hotel staff and security. Only when a guest tests positive does the BOQ step in to extract and transfer the person to a designated “Quarantine Positive Hotel Facility”.

“Poblacion Girl” and “Massage lady” were assigned to a regular quarantine hotel for swabbing and wait for test results. All that was “Cargo de Casa” or the hotels’ responsibility. The two escapees were sensational because they flaunted their misconduct on social media and infuriated law-abiding Filipinos. Why target the BOQ or accuse them of being part of a scam?

A Brave Heart in the Bureau sent me a long email about the BOQ, but I had to cut it down to the pertinent parts. Its very informative and revealing:

Since the start of pandemic, BOQ was the first agency to respond to the fight of the government against this COVID-19 Pandemic. We responded and worked in spite of limited manpower and resources like vehicles. Napaka dami pong responsibilities na ibinigay sa amin ang government and IATF, lahat po ito ay nagampanan namin kahit po kulang ang manpower namin. Since Dec 2020 we requested DOH additional manpower but up to now po patuloy kami binabawasan. Sa kagustuhan po namin na maka pag function ang BOQ ang nagpasweldo sa mga tao namin na hindi nasama sa approved HRH ng DOH using savings po. Na deplete na po ang savings ng BOQ. Ang operational expenses po namin sa income namin kinukuha. We requested in Dec 2020, 280-plus HRH but only 204 was approved, then binawasan pa po to 170-plus. Sa dami ng trabaho na ibinigay sa amin at mababawasan pa ang manpower namin ngayong 2022, hindi na po talaga kakayanin.

Ang laki po ng sacrifice ng mga BOQ employees kaya po sobrang nasasaktan kami sa nasabi ni PRRD na involve kami sa mga violations. May process po na pagdadaanaan ang mga ROFs and bawat process po may in charge na government agencies. Sa nakita pong violation, wala pong BOQ involved sa process na iyon. If we will be given enough manpower po lahat po ng process malalagyan natin ng BOQ para po makatulong na mas mahigpit na ma-implement ang quarantine protocols po. Hopefully po makita ng government ang malaking contribution ng BOQ sa pandemic at maibigay ang needs ng bureau. Panahon na din po siguro na amendahan ang RA 9271 of 2004 “Quarantine Act” para po maiangkop ung batas sa nangyayaring pandemic, tulad ng pagbabalik ng police power ng quarantine na tinangal noong 2004 po.

Responsibilities of BOQ ngayun pandemic

Airport – BOQ po ang unang nagaasikaso sa mga arrivals po, kami ang nagscreen kung may sakit at nagcheck ng mga required documents po tulad ng vaccination card, rtpcr results at one health pass registration. Number of arrivals per day is 4,000 ngayun pong pandemic.

Seaports – Clear all arriving international vessels from any infectious diseases, responds to medical emergencies on vessels, run Quarantine facilities. Conducts 24 hours medical response to all medical emergencies of ROFs in quarantine facilities. Extraction and transfer of positive ROFs/OFWs from hotels to treatment facilities.

Positive Hotel quarantine facilities – Manage COVID 19 OFWs/ROFs admitted in BOQ manned facilities; more than 100 OFWs/ROFs are being conducted every day for transfer. We have limited vehicles, but with the support of OWWA, Oplan Kalinga and BCDA, napa-pahiram po kami ng vehicles, buses and vans.

Issuance of International Certificate of Vaccination (yellow card) – BOQ was the first to respond to the needs of our OFWs on vaccination certificate for COVID-19 in July 2021. BOQ satellite offices were opened to meet the demands of the public in the issuance of ICV, online booking system. Conduct regular COVID-19 vaccinations to all agencies operating in the airport. Regular yellow fever and polio vaccination for travelers. Inspection of hotels to be used as quarantine facilities. Physical and medical examinations of foreigners.

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As the saying goes: “Do not pass judgement on people until you have walked in their shoes” and “If you have nothing good to say, then don’t.” Thank You! to the personnel of the BOQ.