DAVAO CITY – The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) already noted two health workers nabbed for presenting fake reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results upon arrival here in the city.
This was confirmed by DCPO spokesperson Captain Rosario Aguilar who reported the number of passengers arrested for presenting fake coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test results since January estimated to be 1,000.
Of the estimated number of passengers arrested, one is a male health physician and the other is a female. The male physician was apprehended on May 6, while the female physician was nabbed on June 10 this year.
The two physicians were inbound passengers of the Cebu Pacific from Cebu City, Aguilar said. She added that most of the passengers opted to fake the virus test results to avoid getting swabbed at Davao International Airport.
“As of today (June 17), we have tallied 123 passengers arrested for presenting a fake RT-PCR test result. These passengers, who traveled by land and via airline, were denied entry to Davao City,” Aguilar said via a text message.
City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio earlier said that these people are dangerous as they could cause community transmission should they manage to sneak out of the airport undetected, worsening the COVID-19 situation in the city.
Duterte-Carpio said that all passengers with fake RT-PCR test results will still have to undergo the swab test. These passengers will also have to face criminal charges for falsification of documents based on the government regulations.