BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Authorities here plan to subject all mendicant Badjaos to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RTC-PCR) test possible coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection.
Pacita Tero, head of the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD), proposed this move following the recovery of the remains of an unidentified man along Palanca Street in the city’s Bredco port earlier this week.
Tero expressed worry that around 70 Badjaos they counted roaming this city may have already either contracted the SARS-coV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, or may have become carriers of the virus.
Tero said she has already forwarded the proposal to CHO Environmental Sanitation Division head Dr. Grace Tan, to have the Badjaos in the city undergo Covid-19 testing.
Plans have also been made for the Badjaos to be returned home to Jolo, Sulu after conducting the RT-PCR tests, however, transporting them would be a problem as there are currently no trips between Bacolod City heading to Mindanao.
The only available trips that would take the Badjaos home is in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, although no one is allowed to cross as the borders between Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental are still closed.
However, Tero said the provincial government of Negros Oriental has agreed to serve as a holding area for Badjaos if there is no one yet from Zamboanga that would pick them up.
Earlier on Wednesday, a traffic enforcer discovered the naked man’s lifeless body lying underneath a tree by a near the Bredco port area.
Investigation revealed that the individual was believed to be homeless and suffering from mental illness.
The remains were no longer autopsied to determine the cause of death, although police believe the individual likely died of natural causes as he had no wounds found on his body./PN
