Two tourists will be facing formal complaints after presenting fake coronavirus disease (COVID-19) swab test results in El Nido, Palawan, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Saturday, February 20.
According to DOT, the local police will file charges against the tourists from Metro Manila after confirming that they indeed presented swab tests with falsified dates of specimen collection.
"The falsification was confirmed by verifying the QR code through the Lords Medical and Industrial Clinic which administered the test," the DOT explained.
The tourism department said the visitors were held by municipal health officers at the Lio Airport on February 16 for violating Republic Act 11322 which prohibits "tampering of records or intentionally providing misinformation."
The tourists were then sent to a local hotel for their seven-day quarantine.
The DOT has been appealing to travelers to stop forging and faking travel documents after six tourists who entered Boracay Island were apprehended last January 21 for falsifying their reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.
Three of these tourists, who are also from the capital region, were revealed to be infected with COVID-19 after verification of authorities.
Under the law, the DILG said violators could face penalties of P20,000 but not more than P50,000 or imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months, or both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.