BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Don’t fake swab test results, the provincial government of Negros Occidental warned inbound travelers.
Several individuals bound for this city were caught with fake reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results, according to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) here.
Travelers are required to submit a negative RT-PCR test result 72 hours (at the most) prior to travel, said Zeaphard Caelian, Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT) head, citing the provincial government’s new travel protocols.
The PIMT also confirmed some travelers were presenting “expired” test results. These referred to RT-PCR tests conducted and results released beyond the 72-hour cap.
Caelian said every result being presented is double-checked with the molecular laboratory which supposedly conducted the test so it would be hard for travelers to pass off a fake result as genuine. This is on top of several security features in the result such as the quick response (QR) code.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz, meanwhile, also confirmed the reports, pointing out they received information that fake RT-PCR documents were being sold for at least P900 in Metro Manila.
Diaz said anyone caught presenting fake test results would be charged with falsification of public documents.
Under Article 171 in relation to Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code, the crime of falsification of public documents can carry a six-year jail sentence.
Earlier this week, Dr. Chris Sorongon, deputy for medical of the EOC, revealed several travelers bound for this city have reportedly been intercepted by authorities for faking swab results.
He said they have already referred the incidents to the City Legal Office (CLO).
Sorongon said they monitored the fake swab test results after the city and the province started implementing the S-Pass System, which gives travelers the approved travel coordination permits.
All individuals including locally stranded individuals, returning overseas Filipinos, returning overseas Filipino workers, and authorized persons outside of residence are required to present a negative RT-PCR test result 72 hours prior to travel.
Travelers entering the city are also required to register via the BacTrac System for contact tracing./PN
