Congressmen should be tested first for coronavirus, says party-list representative

Members of the House of Representatives should be the first people to be tested for the coronavirus, Representative Francisco Datol Jr. proposed yesterday.

Datol, who represents Senior Citizen party-list, made the surprising request during a virtual Congressional session attended by officials of the Department of Health and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), none of whom responded to his demand.

Ignoring the public clamor to do away with “VIP testing,” Datol displayed his entitlement while expressing support for House Bill No. 6707, which proposes to test “vulnerable” Filipinos including asymptomatics.

Read: Vlogger throws shade at politicians getting ‘VIP testing’

“I’m supporting the House Bill but we should be the first one tested, we congressmen, congresswomen, and the employees of Congress,” said Datol.

“All of us are paying for PhilHealth. Like us congressmen, there are 304 of us. We pay whenever we receive our salary, [our] salary deduction [is] PHP900 (US$18) a month. Within three years, [that’s] PHP32,420 (US$641),” he said.

The congressman is clearly unaware of the fact that all employed Filipinos are made to pay the mandatory PhilHealth fees, not just him and his colleagues. But who cares, right?

“Now look at us senior citizens working in Congress, there are more than 100 of us here. From what I know, a senior citizen should be exempted from paying the PhilHealth. Why do all of us, both young and old in Congress, have to pay PHP900 a month?” he asked.

“That’s why I’m requesting, we should be tested first when that law is passed. We should come first, we colleagues and our employees [here in Congress]. Maybe there are 5,000 of us,” he demanded.

It was just two months ago when rumors circulated that politicians and their families were getting tested for the coronavirus ahead of everyone else, including healthcare workers and patients suspected of COVID-19. Netizens cried foul over this, and pointed out that many patients have died of COVID-19 before they even learn the result of their tests.