Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao’s claim that the “coronavirus issue” had not reached the Philippines until later in March is false.
STATEMENT
In a March 26 interview with CNN Philippines, Pacquiao, chair of the Senate ethics committee, was asked to comment on Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III’s breach of quarantine protocols when he accompanied his pregnant wife to the hospital despite showing symptoms of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Pacquiao then confirmed that he had contact with Pimentel — who has tested positive for COVID-19 — during a get-together at his home on March 4, adding:
“Nung time na ‘yun wala pa ‘yung…corona issue, ‘yung coronavirus issue dito sa Pilipinas (At that time, the coronavirus issue was not yet here in the Philippines).”
Source: CNN Philippines, BREAKING: Total number of COVID-19 cases now at 707…, March 26, 2020, watch from 35:24 to 36:33
Host Pia Hontiveros reiterated the date of the event, saying “Meron na po, may issue na po na ganoon (It was already an issue by that time).”
But the senator insisted:
“Wala pa, wala pa. Wala pa ‘yung issue ng coronavirus nung time na ‘yun (The coronavirus was not yet an issue [here in the country] at that time).”
FACT
Contrary to what Pacquiao said, the Philippines has been grappling with the novel coronavirus “issue” since January, when the country recorded its first COVID-19 patient – a 38-year-old Chinese woman who had come from Wuhan, China, ground zero of the outbreak.
On Feb. 2, the Department of Health (DOH) announced the death of the patient’s 44-year-old husband, who came with her to the Philippines and also tested positive for the disease. It was the first recorded COVID-19-related fatality outside of China, according to the World Health Organization.
These cases were among the issues tackled during a Senate hearing, led jointly by the Senate committees on health and demography, and finance, on Feb. 4 — a full month before the get-together at Pacquiao’s residence — about the preparedness of the government in dealing with the novel coronavirus threat.
Pacquiao, who is a member of the Senate finance committee, was not present at the hearing.
Come March 4, the country already had three confirmed cases and 39 patients under investigation, 29 of whom were in the National Capital Region, according to the DOH.
On March 27, Pacquiao was called out by Dasmarinas Village Barangay Chairperson Rossana Hwang to “be a model example” and go on home quarantine after having contact with Pimentel and persons who had tested positive for COVID-19.
The next day, the senator issued a statement saying he and his family had been on home quarantine since March 24, and that he had already tested negative for the disease.
Health authorities confirmed the country’s first recorded local transmission of COVID-19 on March 7, prompting the government to raise its alert level to Code Red Sublevel 1, and again on March 12 to Code Red Sublevel 2 — the highest — following the confirmation of more cases.
See FACT SHEET: Code Red Alert on COVID-19
As of March 31, the DOH has recorded 2,084 COVID-19 cases, with 88 deaths and 49 recoveries.
The Duterte government has since declared the existence of a national emergency, and imposed an enhanced community lockdown on the entire Luzon island.
See FACT SHEET: Understanding ‘community quarantine’ and ‘social distancing’ policies
