By Genalyn Kabiling President Duterte has not been exposed to a member of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) who tested positive for the coronavirus but has since recovered from the illness, PSG chief Col. Jesus Durante III said Tuesday. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
(ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/ MANILA BULLETIN) Durante explained that the virus-hit PSG member is not part of the close-in security personnel of the President. "No exposure with PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte). Does not belong (to) close-in security detail,” he said in a message to reporters Tuesday. The President has returned to Manila Monday night after spending the weekend in Davao City. He is expected to attend Tuesday a meeting with some Cabinet members on the government's efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, the PSG confirmed that at least 160 members tested positive during rapid testing since March and were placed under quarantine for two weeks away from the President's Malacañang residence. When 160 PSG personnel were later subjected to RT-PCR tests, only one member was confirmed positive. "To reiterate, said personnel has long recovered and was never detailed as close-in security of the President," the PSG said in a statement. The other PSG personnel have been "released after 14 days of no symptoms and tested negative with RDT and PCR tests," according to Durante. The PSG assured the public that it follows a systematic procedure in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Department of Health and Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to prevent the virus spread. PSG troopers and their dependents undergo COVID-19 rapid testing every two weeks to detect the virus. "This is to ensure that PSG troopers do not become (a) threat to the President and guarantee that his safety is not compromised in any way,” the PSG statement read.