Charges are being readied against a returning overseas individual who allegedly skipped the mandatory quarantine upon arrival in the Philippines, the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) said on Friday, Dec. 31.

“Itong recently case na nangyari nakaready na ang complaint natin, kami ang complainant—BOQ, DOH, para maging example.Hindi dapat i-violate ang quarantine law dahil malaki ang epekto nito sa community (In this recent case that happened, our complaint is ready, we are the complainant — BOQ, DOH. This should serve as an example. The quarantine law should not be violated because it has a big impact on the community),” said BOQ Deputy Director Roberto Salvador Jr.

Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III said that his agency, together with other concerned government departments, continue to investigate this incident of alleged quarantine breach.

“We will hold people to account for a breach in protocols, these are clearly well-established protocols” he said.

Duque said that evading quarantine protocols is a violation under Republic Act No. 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.

Under the said law, violators shall be penalized with a fine of not less than P20,000 but not more than P50,000 or “imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the proper court.”

“Napakamahalaga po ng quarantine laws under BOQ, may mandato sila (Quarantine laws under BOQ are very important, they have a mandate). So, anybody who will be found guilty of breaching and violating these laws, rules and regulations will be made to account to the full extent of the law,” said the Health chief.

“They can be charged, indicted for criminal as well as administrative cases. Warning lang po, ayaw na natin gawin ito pero period or public health emergency po ang buong Pilipinas, hindi pwedeng balewalain ang mga batas natin (Just a warning, we don't want to do this but the whole Philippines is in a period or under a public health emergency, our laws cannot be ignored),” he added.

This issue went viral on social media sites after a netizen posted that an individual, who came from the United States, left the quarantine facility and went to attend a party in Makati City. It was reported that this person tested positive for COVID-19 and has since infected others after attending the party.

Based on the current guidelines of the government’s pandemic task force, international travelers should present a negative RT-PCR within 72 hours prior to departure. Upon arrival in the Philippines, they shall undergo facility-based quarantine until the release of their RT-PCR test here.