The Quezon City government is set to file charges against another manning agency for its failure to help a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive worker, who was waiting for his deployment overseas.
Left with no other choice, the patient from Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu province used public transport to travel to the Quezon City Hall and seek assistance from the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO).
According to City Legal Officer Atty. Orlando Casimiro, the local government will press charges against Staffhouse Manpower Office for violation of Republic Act No. 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
“The city government will also file a complaint before the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) against the company, being a manpower agency sending Filipinos abroad,” said Casimiro.
Mayor Joy Belmonte, for her part, ordered the Business Permits and Licensing Department (BPLD) to cancel the business permit of the Quezon City-based manpower firm.
“We won’t let this act go unpunished. Inilagay ng manning agency na ito sa panganib ang buhay ng pasyente pati ang napakaraming residente ng lungsod,” said Belmonte.
“I have ordered our city legal to leave no stone unturned to guarantee that this manning agency is punished to the full extent of the law,” she added.
The patient has been staying in Quezon City since February 21 while waiting for his deployment abroad.
On March 18, 2021, he underwent RT-PCR test at Delos Santos Hospital where he joined 20 other applicants from Staffhouse.
After receiving the positive result the following day, the other residents of the house where the patient is staying asked him to leave and look for another place to stay.
The patient sought help from his manning agency, but he was told to go home. Nowhere to go, the patient rode a public transport to the Quezon City Hall and sought assistance from the DRRMO.
Upon arrival, he informed the DRRMO employees about his positive test and he was immediately brought to a quarantine facility via ambulance.
Last month, the local government sued a recruitment agency for bringing a COVID-19 positive patient to an apartment in Commonwealth Avenue without informing authorities.
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