By MARTIN A. SADONGDONG
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Gen. Felimon Santos Jr., chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease-2019, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana disclosed yesterday.
Lorenzana said Santos informed him that he has acquired the dreaded disease.
“This morning (Friday) I was informed by CSAFP Gen. Santos that he tested positive of the COVID-19 – the result he got yesterday (Thursday),” Lorenzana said.
It was not clear how Santos contracted the disease but the result of his test came days after a one-star military general tested positive for COVID-19.
The AFP Public Affairs Office said Santos was tested last March 23 – a day before he revealed to media that a star-rank officer and his wife were confirmed to have been infected by COVID-19. These were the first confirmed cases in the military.
Santos said he had close contact with the officer during one military conference and at the donning of rank for newly promoted officers where the infected officer was among those who had ranked up.
Santos will be on “strict” home quarantine from March 27 to April 10.
“He is well and in good health. He will be in his military quarters where he will continue the discharge of his duties and responsibilities,” the AFP-PAO said.
AFP Vice Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Gaudencio Collado Jr. will assist Santos in overseeing the daily operational activities of the military. AFP Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Erickson Gloria was designated to attend to the administrative matters.
Lorenzana said that he will undergo home quarantine for 14 days effective yesterday after having close contact with Santos in three separate occasions.
He bared that he was with Santos last March 21 during the turnover of medical supplies and equipment donated by an anonymous Filipino-Chinese businessman at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.
Aside from Lorenzana and Santos, also present during the turnover ceremony were Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano, and Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Allen Paredes.
Lorenzana was again accompanied by Santos in two events on March 22 – at the AFP General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City and Heroes Hall in Malacanang.
“I have no symptoms but protocol says I have to self-quarantine for 14 days,” Lorenzana, now considered a Person Under Monitoring, noted.
With Santos positive for COVID-19 and Lorenzana on home quarantine, the operations of the national government’s National Action Plan to eradicate the threat of the deadly disease in the country was put into question.
The military, with Santos at the helm, has been in the frontline of the battle to contain the disease, enforcing the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon with police to prevent the spread of the virus.
Lorenzana was recently designated as the head of the National Task Force COVID-19 which was formed to implement the policies being formulated by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
PUYAT ON SELF-QUARANTINE
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat will place herself under self-quarantine as a precaution against COVID-19.
“Given the recently unfortunate news that the AFP chief of staff has tested positive for COVID-19, I will be undergoing self-quarantine as I was exposed to him in a meeting last March 20,” said Puyat.
The Tourism chief said that she is currently asymptomatic.
“Since I do not show any signs nor symptoms, I will not be having myself tested in order to save the limited supply of testing kits to people who truly need it,” said Puyat. “By staying at home, I will not put anyone I come in contact with at risk. The safety of those around me is my priority,” she added.
Puyat said that she will continue to do her work as the Tourism chief.
“This will not stop me from doing my job. We, in the Department of Tourism, have been working remotely from each other since the start of the enhanced community quarantine. As of March 26, the DoT has assisted 11,863 stranded travelers all over the country,” she said. “Our locations will not beset us from fulfilling our duties to serve our tourists and stakeholders in this time of need,” she added. (Analou de Vera)
