By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

A 48-year-old traveler from Estancia, Iloilo could face criminal charges after he traveled to Bacolod City without producing an RT-PCR test result.

The traveler would later test positive for COVID-19.

According to Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Executive Director Em Ang, the 48-year-old male traveler passed by the city’s BREDCO Port without the required RT-PCR test result.

Upon arrival in the city, they received a phone call from the biolab in Iloilo telling them that the traveler had tested positive for the virus.

When authorities conducted contact tracing on the male traveler, they discovered that he had traveled to his relatives in Barangay Felisa and also visited the Department of Foreign Affairs office in the city.

Ang further stated the incident has already been referred to the City Legal Office, and the traveler could face charges for violation of Republic Act 11332, or the “Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases.”/DGB, WDJ