San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora has again been thrust into the middle of an issue over an alleged violation of quarantine measures, this time on his home turf.

In an interview with reporters on Monday (Aug. 17), Zamora maintained that he did not breach any quarantine protocols as he disclosed that nine of his staff have recently tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“Wala po tayong nilabag na ano mang protocols at agad naman nating ni-report ang mga nag-positive na ito. Bale limang staff po sa bahay at apat na staff sa City Hall, ‘yan po ang nag-positive (We have not violated any protocols and we immediately reported these positive cases. There are five staff at home and four staff from City Hall who tested positive),” Zamora said.

“Informed ang ating City Health Office, informed din po ang ating village association. So lahat naman po ng dapat nating i-report ay ni-report natin (Our City Health Office was informed, our village association was also informed. So we reported everything we had to report),” he added.

In a radio report on Monday, the homeowners’ association of the village where the mayor resides will reportedly file a complaint against Zamora for allegedly not reporting to the barangay that 13 of his staff have been infected with COVID-19.

Zamora said the North Greenhills Subdivision Homeowners’ Association, a posh subdivision, was informed that some of his house staff had contracted the virus and were already in isolation.

He said his staffers were placed under isolation after they were found to be positive for COVID-19 over a week ago. The mayor said he and his family got tested several times and the results were all negative.

“Hindi totoo ‘yun. Unang-una, ang reporting, ang levels niyan within the City Health Office, the barangay, and village association. Since ang nag-quarantine mismo ang ating City Health Office, the data emanates from them (It is not true. First of all, reporting is done by levels -- it starts with the City Health Office, then the barangay, and then the village association. Since our City Health Office itself has taken those positives into quarantine, the data emanates from them),” Zamora said.

Zamora said all this was reported to the barangay. Speaking in Filipino, he said that if the barangay data were checked, the mayor's address would be seen there, also the name of the five COVID-19-positive house staff, because he explained his other staffers do not report to his house.

According to Zamora, the chairman of the board of the homeowners’ association said that there is no such issue that the homeowners’ association was not informed about the infected house staff of Zamora.

“At meron ngang lumalabas na isang pangalan, supposedly kapitbahay daw namin, na magsasampa ng kaso. Nakausap na rin po ng chairman ng North Greenhills at wala naman daw talagang ganyang issue (And supposedly one of our neighbors will file a case. I have spoken with the chairman of North Greenhills and he said that there is no such issue),” the mayor explained.

He added that the supposed complainant was surprised to learn that his name had been dragged into the matter when in fact there really was no such issue.

Zamora said he has been a resident of the village for 47 years now, since 1977, and that he has also served as president and chairman of the board of the village association.

The mayor explained that there is no need for his house to be placed under lockdown because his household members have tested negative for the coronavirus disease, adding that they frequently conduct disinfection.

“Wala naman po tayong nakikitang mga bagay na nilabag sa pagkakataong ito (We do not see anything violated this time),” he said.

The San Juan mayor earlier came under fire after his visit to Baguio City last June.

Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong said Zamora's convoy breached Baguio’s quarantine protocols when his entourage sped past the city’s quarantine checkpoint.

This was after Zamora and his six-car vehicle convoy went to the country’s summer capital to bring his wife, a breast cancer patient, to take some rest as she underwent treatment.

Zamora has since apologized to Magalong and to the people of Baguio, but he insisted that the incident was just a “miscommunication.”