ANYONE who will intentionally provide the wrong information about their personal details in the health declaration form used for COVID-19 contact tracing will be penalized, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
DOH Spokesperson and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire pointed to the existing Republic Act 11332 or Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
She said under the law, it is clear that it is forbidden to intentionally give the wrong information during contact tracing, which comes with a corresponding penalty.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) is also considering to take legal steps against the travelers from South Africa who up to now cannot be located because of the wrong information or incomplete details they provided in their information sheet.
Seven out of the eight travelers who arrived in the country between November 15 up to 29 from South Africa cannot be located up to now.
“We will file a case against them once they are located because no one should provide the wrong or false information,” DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III warned.
“Like this, we wanted to do backtracing but it would be difficult to do because we won’t know where to find them. This is now under investigation and we’ll see if we can get leads,” he added.
“We have a law that says the information provided should be true and correct, especially now that we are in a public health emergency, otherwise you can be charged in court,” the DOH chief emphasized.