MANILA – The 50 “truant” lawmakers who left the country to witness a boxing championship bout in Las Vegas, Nevada will not be exempted from the mandatory quarantine procedures once they arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airpor (NAIA), a ranking health official assured on Friday.
Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd of the Department of Health explained the returning members of the House of Representatives would be required to undergo the health checkups being implemented at NAIA and the country’s other major airports in a determined attempt to prevent the entry of the dreaded Mexican swine flu virus.
Such checkups, Duque emphasized, have become more urgent in the wake of the decision of the World Health Organization (WHO) to increase the alert level to Phase 5 because “all of humanity” is now threatened by the disease.
The venue is at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday (Sunday morning, Manila time).
Heading the group is House Speaker Prospero Nograles of Davao City in Mindanao despite growing protests from concerned groups, including their own colleagues, that their travel was unnecessary following the appeal of the Arroyo administration for all Filipinos to tighten their belts austerity because of the worsening global recession.
However, Nograles maintained that their trip was “unofficial” because he and the other lawmakers were spending their own money to witness the bout.
Besides, everybody has the right to travel, Nograles argued.
However, critics pointed out the exodus of the lawmakers resulted in the lack of quorum at the chamber, which prevented the members from tackling vital pieces of legislation, especially those which aim to cushion the impact of the deepening global economic and financial turmoil.
Meanwhile, radio reports confirmed that Vice President Noli de Castro also left the country for Las Vegas as part of the Philippine officialdom’s “cheering squad” for Pacquiao as he tries to wrest the world welterweight boxing crown from Hatton.
Earlier, independent Congressman Edno Joson of Nueva Ecija province in Central Luzon pointed out that Nograles and his group should be checked for signs of swine flu before they are allowed to go out of the airport.
“Those with any sign of the virus should immediately be isolated and sent to the hospital,” said Joson who lamented that Nograles and his group need not travel to Las Vegas because the fight would be carried live in the Philippines on a pay-per-view basis worth the equivalent of about $8 each.
Joson was joined by Congressman Teodoro Casino of the militant party list group Bayan Muna (Country First) who expressed fear that Nograles and the other lawmakers might be exposed to the swine flu virus while in Las Vegas.
Casino explained the spectators will be mixing with Mexicans, who are all boxing aficionados, as well as Americans and tourists who will just cross the border from Mexico to the US.
The call of Joson and Casino took an even more urgent tone following reports which confirmed that a two-year-old child was stricken with the dreaded disease for the first ever case in Nevada.
Reliable sources, however, disclosed that some of the lawmakers now in Las Vegas are to join President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her party during her five-day visit to Egypt and Syria.
Under the original schedule, the President was to leave Manila on Friday, Labor Day, but for still unexplained reasons, her departure was moved to dawn on Saturday, said the sources who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal
The sources said the lawmakers are to fly from Las Vegas to Syria where President Arroyo will start her state visit on May 3.
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