By Nick Giongco
Sen. Manny Pacquiao tested negative for the coronavirus using a kit that came from Korea.
The test was done on Friday, just hours after Dasmariñas Village in Makati City sent him a letter asking that he and his family and household staff impose self-quarantine procedures.
The letter detailed his close contact with Sen. Koko Pimentel based on a video showing him and other lawmakers and luminaries meeting over dinner in his residence.
But Pacquiao, 41, told the Bulletin that the dinner happened on March 4 and not in the last two weeks as everyone feared.
Still, Pacquiao opted to be tested using the Korea-made kit and the result yielded a negative.
“Pero magpapa-test pa rin ako sa DOH para hindi sila mag-worry sa akin,” said Pacquiao, who earlier in the day presided over the distribution of testing kits that was donated by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.
Pacquiao clarified that the Korean testing kit that he used has yet to be cleared by the Department of Health.
“Pero yan kasing test kit na ‘yan hindi pa approved ng FDA dito kasi wala pang nag-apply pero ‘yan ang ginagamit sa Korea at approved sa Korea ‘yan pero for the benefit of the doubt kaya magpa-test pa rin ako sa DOH doctor na approved ng FDA.
Pacquio said “the whole whole country will benefit from this donation and in the coming weeks, there’ll be more coming,” said Pacquiao, noting that the bulk of the Ma-donated testing kits will be used in Metro Manila and the nearby provinces.
“Regional offices of the DOH in the Visayas and Mindanao are also going to benefit from this,” he said.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, said he and his family have remained home-based the last week or so.
