ACTING on the predicament hounding local government units, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered mayors to make use of hotels and inns in their respective areas as quarantine facilities.
In his public address aired late night last Monday, Duterte admitted that the government is facing serious problem as many quarantine facilities and public hospitals are again nearing saturation, adding that people who are still waiting for the results of their swab tests, or for those who are asymptomatic be billeted in local hotels, inns or pension houses.
“There’s a dearth of space for people who are suspected of having the virus. Ang problema nito is ganito. Ikaw naman kung dalhin ka doon sa ospital, it’s kind of a morbid thing for anyone, really, it could be traumatic for a guy na pag-swab, dalhin ka doon sa, you are whisked to the hospital, and you stay there,” he said.
“So I leave it to the city government, and we will talk about it later, itong mga hotel na bakante, tutal pagkatapos niyan we can always decontaminate the rooms. We will do it for you,” Duterte added.
To make it easier for the local officials, Duterte also appealed to owners of hotels, inns, and even motels to cooperate with the government and offer the establishments to be used as quarantine facilities, as he assured them of getting paid on time. “And to the owners of hotels, inns, motels, maybe kung wala nang iba, to accommodate the Filipinos who are in need of help. I will assume the full responsibility of paying you pagdating ng panahon. I will see to it, I will ask Congress, I will plead sa kanila na hanapan ng paraan, bayaran kayo. I will personally see to it that you are paid on time,” he said.
This is not the first time that hotels have been used as quarantine facilities.
During the early days of the pandemic, several hotels in Metro Manila were tapped as quarantine facilities for returning overseas Filipinos, which led to millions of pesos in debt to hotel owners.