Call for sobriety

The suggestion by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines to reprimand Capas Mayor Rey Catacutan for objecting to the use of the Athletes Village in the New Clark City as a quarantine zone should be withdrawn.

Catacutan raised his concern because as town mayor, that’s his responsibility to his constituents. The Capas local government wasn’t consulted in the decision to turn the Athletes Village into a quarantine zone for 30 Filipinos, including an infant, brought home in a chartered plane from Wuhan, the epicentre of the spread of the novel coronavirus, last Sunday. Catacutan said several Capas residents are employed as housekeeping and utility personnel at the Athletes Village and may be exposed to the virus if any of the repatriated Filipinos are contaminated.

The Athletes Village, which was built for the recent Southeast Asian Games, can accommodate 1,800 guests. Up to three persons may occupy a room which has a TV, refrigerator, study table and bathroom. There are 525 rooms of which 95 are equipped for para athletes. The Village has gym amenities, kitchen and dining areas, conference rooms and other recreational facilities.

Since the chartered plane landed at the Clark International Airport, it made sense to find a quarantine zone close by and the Athletes Village is at present unoccupied. But the Village wasn’t the first choice. The initial option was to tap an unused building at the drug rehab center in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija but the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority thumbed it down because of the presence of drug dependents undergoing treatment. The drug rehab center is more isolated than the Athletes Village. If the unused building is cordoned off as a quarantine zone, how could the repatriated Filipinos pose a threat to drug dependents in the center? The risk of contamination may be higher at the Village because it’s a much larger area to contain. 

Rep. Manny Lopez (1st District, Manila) filed a resolution recommending either Caballo Island or Corregidor as a quarantine site. “Caballo Island or Corregidor Island is safer and more practical because they are isolated from the cities,” said Lopez, formerly ABAP president and a supporter of sports. “We can better prevent the possibility of the nCoV spreading to nearby communities.” Caballo was used in 2014 as a quarantine zone for returning Filipino peacekeepers from Ebola-stricken Liberia. Corregidor, however, may not be a suitable zone because of the ongoing tourism activities on the island. 

To section out the Athletes Village as a quarantine zone for 30 people doesn’t seem appropriately proportionate. It would compromise quarters for 1,800 people to accommodate 30 individuals for a 14-day quarantine period. It would also create an image of the Village as a shelter for potentially sick people. When the Philippines hosts another major sporting event where the Athletes Village will be mobilized, it may be difficult to convince visitors to use the facilities without fear of some kind of contamination. You can fumigate, sanitize and clean up the Village but the stigma of it once being used as a refuge may be hard to live down.

Now that the repatriated Filipinos have landed and are in the Village, it’s academic to debate whether they should’ve been accommodated in another site. Perhaps, their movement may be restricted to only a section of the Village so that not the entire premises are zoned out. It will be easier to sanitize when the quarantine period is over. 

BCDA chairman and president Vince Dizon offered the Athletes Village as a quarantine zone presumably because of its proximity to the airport where the repatriated Filipinos landed. Besides, the rooms are vacant. It was a matter of urgency and expediency. For sure, Catacutan wouldn’t have raised a howl if he were consulted and assured that proper safety measures would be in place to keep his constituents away from possible contamination. It should’ve been made clear to the Capas local government that steps would be taken to safeguard the townsfolk. A little more communication and interaction would’ve defused the situation.

Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda said his province has the proper quarantine facilities identified by the Department of Health and trained personnel to take care of returning OFWs from virus-affected areas. Health and public welfare are among the cornerstones of the Pineda family’s administration in Pampanga so you can be sure Gov. Dennis will always keep the safety of his province in high priority.

Nobody should be faulted for coming out with opinions regarding where to quarantine the repatriated Filipinos from Wuhan. Nobody is turning away returning OFWs. The discussion only involves where to situate the quarantine zone. Sadly, there is a sense of panic created by the spread of the virus and it’s causing a lot of anxiety but officials, particularly in government, are doing a good job of keeping calm and appealing for sobriety. Precautionary measures must be taken by everyone even as the government is doing its best to guarantee the public that things are under control.