Young Army officer dies before COVID-19 test released

April 10, 2020

A young military officer in Bulacan died before his test for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) came out , the spokesman of the Philippine Army said Thursday.

Col. Ramon Zagala said  2Lt. Vince Magbanua, platoon leader of the Weapons Company of the Headquarters Service Battalion, 48th Infantry Battalion of the 7th Infantry Division based in Doña Remedios Trinidad died from heart attack.

But the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) has yet to say if he died from COVID-19, said Zagala.

"On April 8, a young Philippine Army officer from the 7th Infantry Division died from acute myocardial infarction, a medical term of heart attack, with bronchial asthma in acute exacerbation according to medical records," he said.

Zagala said Magbanua was rushed by a military ambulance at Norzagaray Municipal Hospital after experiencing difficulty of breathing with dry cough on April 7.

"Magbanua was advised by the attending physician to undergo a 14-day quarantine after he was diagnosed with acute bronchitis," he said.

On April 8  Magbanua was again rushed to Norzagaray Municipal Hospital due to difficulty of breathing and was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician around 3:45 pm.

Zagala said a swab specimen of Magbanua was taken by the Bulacan Provincial Health Office and was sent to the  RITM   to find out if he is positive for COVID-19.

“The Philippine Army is saddened by the demise of 2nd Lieutenant Magbanua who had just started his military career. We will extend necessary assistance to his bereaved family at this difficult time,” he said.

“We will take precautionary measures based on the DOH guidelines whether Magbanua acquired the COVID-19 virus or not, and we are currently conducting contact tracing to all personnel which he interacted with, because we want to ensure that everyone in his unit is well taken cared of.” he added.

Zagala said Magbanua is from Davao City belongs to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Alab Tala” Class of 2018.

He said the remains of Magbanua were cremated at the Bernard De Guzman Funeral and Crematory in barangay Sta Clara, Sta Maria, Bulacan on Thursday. Robina Asido/DMS