By Jeffrey Damicog
The government gave assurance of its assistance to help track down and place under quarantine Filipino delegates who attended an Islamic event in Malaysia.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra
(TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra made the assurance on Wednesday (March 18) after the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) appealed to the delegates who attended the "ijtimak tabligh" gathering in Malaysia to come out and undergo quarantine.
“We’ll extend any help that the NCMF may request,” Guevarra said.
Guevarra also said that at the moment, the NCMF has yet to seek government help in finding the Islamic preachers.
“Anyway, when these people come back, they will undergo stringent quarantine screening,” he said.
At the moment, the NCMF and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) are trying to find the whereabouts of the Filipino delegates.
Some 16,000 participants from different countries attended the event, including 215 Filipinos, mostly from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The Malaysia Health Ministry said that 77 of their latest COVID-19 cases were participants at the event.