Andanar defends need for health form for Palace visitors, Cabinet secretaries, before interacting with President

February 7, 2020

A Palace official defended on Friday the need for all  visitors, including Cabinet officials, who would interact with President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacanang to fill up health declaration forms.

In a statement, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar said the form is an additional precautionary measure to ensure the safety and security, not just of Duterte, but everyone who is working at or visiting the Palace amid the threat of the deadly novel coronavirus.

"The health form is a precautionary measure that covers not only all visitors, but our Cabinet Secretaries, government officials, employees, who will interact with the President," he said.

"Therefore, security clearances that have been augmented through a health declaration form by the Events Management Cluster of the Office of the President (OP-EMC) for those who have engagements with the President, are warranted," Andanar stressed.

He assured the public that relevant health and law enforcement agencies are working on containing the spread of the virus.

"We will continue to notify the public through our Laging Handa Campaign on any developments on the issue of the 2019-nCoV," he added.

The Department of Health has recorded a total of 215 persons under investigation for possible nCoV, including three confirmed cases.

A male Chinese national from Wuhan, the epicenter of nCoV in Hubei, China, was the first confirmed nCoV-related death in the country. Celerina Monte/DMS