TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Oct. 22 (PIA) -- The implications of using fake documents to enter Bohol now entails heavier penalties.
The penalties for getting caught with a fake or ‘doctored’ Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test result, bogus vaccination certificate, and fake S-pass is P5,000, a forced quarantine for five days at a Department of Tourism-accredited quarantine facility at the violator’s expense, plus the cost of the mandatory RT-PCR on the fifth day of quarantine.
The violator could even pay more if the RT-PCR tests positive, and a longer quarantine would be required until his swab test results are negative, according to Executive Order No 52, series of 2021.
During the Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (BIATF EID) meeting, Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Officer Anthony Damalerio cited reports saying that close to 500 fake RT-PCRs have been confiscated.
Damalerio added that faking documents required for entry to Bohol is not only through the RT PCR as the S-pass is also being faked.
San Miguel Mayor Atty. Virgilio Mendez, who was instrumental in the arrest of a fake RT-PCR syndicate in Cebu, describes the information as worrisome and disturbing.
Asked what were the actions taken against those who were caught presenting fake documents, Damalerio said the perpetrators were disallowed entry into the vessel.
E.O. No 52 has also lifted the requirements for the negative RT-PCR and the S-pass registration for fully vaccinated incoming travelers.
Instead of the said requirements needed for entry to Bohol, the vaccination certificate should suffice, according to the national IATF on Resolution No. 143.
Amid fears of faking the vaccination certificate, the E.O. clarifies that the vaccination certificate to be used for travel entry to locations is the digitally validated and authenticated document generated by the vaxcert.doh.gov.ph.
This digitally printed document from the DOH’s online facility, when presented at the border crossing, would be authenticated by an online verifier: VaxCertPHVerifier, a mobile phone app that facilitates real-time verification.
Department of Interior and Local Government Provincial Director Jerome Gonzales said that this should be hard to fake.
He added that the facility, however, currently caters to foreign nationals and a few domestically vaccinated individuals, and that it would speed up with its online database when the local government units can upload their vaccination records. (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)
