President Rodrigo Duterte warned on Monday night of a possible reshuffling at the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) and dismissal of personnel at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) amid reports of passengers skipping protocols.
Pres. Duterte said he has received reports that some passengers are bypassing the process of entering the Philippines “with the help of airport personnel”.
“I say this now as I have said it before: Do not do it kasi mayayari talaga kayo (because you will be held accountable). You do it by allowing unauthorized travel when all of us are really worried of containing the contamination,” he reprimanded.
He also reminded the BI that 42 of its personnel have already been dismissed. This might happen again if such practices remain unabated. He added that the 14-day quarantine for passengers covered by the restricted travel remains mandatory.
While raising the reported unauthorized entry of some passengers to the BOQ, he cautioned, “just one incident tapos kayong lahat. Hindi na bale sa akin kung ikaw o hindi. I do not care if kasali ka riyan sa hindi kasi racket ‘yan eh (Just one incident and you’re all done. It does not matter to me if it is you or not. I do not care if you are involved or not because that is a racket)”. – Report from Karen Villanda