DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 09 May) – Eight journalists and two Presidential photographers who tested negative in their RT-PCR tests were not allowed by the Presidential Security Group (PSG) to cover President Rodrigo Duterte casting his vote because they tested positive in the antigen tests conducted onsite.
The President was scheduled to vote in Precinct Number 1245-A at the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School (DRANHS) at 3 p.m. but arrived over an hour later.
The media advisory issued by the Presidential Communications Office – Media Accreditation and Relations Office on May 7 said those who will cover the President must be fully vaccinated and must present a printed copy of the negative RT-PCR test result taken 72 hours prior to May 9.
“No hard copy of RT-PCR result, no coverage,” the PCO-MARO stressed. The Department of Health (DOH) considers the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test as the gold standard for confirming the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The PCO-MARO also required journalists to present a “photocopy of his/her vaccination ID” to ensure the journalist is fully vaccinated and to proceed to the medical triage of the PSG medical team at the DRANHS covered court not later than 1 p.m. for antigen testing.
The PSG medical team did not grant the request of the national and local media for a retest to rule out false positives.
A local journalist who tested negative in the RT-PCR test afternoon of May 8 but tested positive in the PSG’s antigen testing afternoon of May 9 decided to undergo another antigen test elsewhere. The result was negative.
There was no explicit directive for those who tested positive in the antigen test to leave the school, but they were barred access to the designated media area.
Members of the Presidential Management Staff and the PSG assigned to the coverage, also underwent antigen testing. There is no information if some of them tested positive.
Duterte arrived after 4:30 pm and finished voting before 5 p.m.
The President voted for his successor, the country’s 17th President, Vice President, 12 Senators, party-list representative and for Davao City, mayor, vice mayor and eight councilors.
Duterte’s three children with Elizabeth Zimmerman are all candidates: Sara, the outgoing mayor, for Vice President; Sebastian, the incumbent vice mayor, for mayor; and Paolo, who is seeking reelection as Representative of the 1st congressional district. (Manman Dejeto / MindaNews)
