Kalibo, Aklan (CNN Philippines) — Eight more tourists were recently nabbed in Boracay Island after a validation team confirmed they submitted fake swab test results, according to a local official.
Aklan Provincial Administrator Atty. Selwyn Ibarreta said in a phone interview Monday evening that the eight were apprehended in three separate resorts and brought to a hotel where they will undergo mandatory quarantine. Those nabbed will have to shoulder the accommodation costs for their quarantine.
“Magastos ang pagkuha sa kanila. Naka speedboat pa, pero yung hotel where they will be quarantined, they will have to shoulder that.” Ibarreta added.
[Translation: It was expensive to get them, as we still had to ride a speedboat. But the costs for quarantine, they will have to shoulder that.]
A group of four people was apprehended on Feb. 12 at Henann Garden Resort. The following day, a group of three people who stayed at the Henann Lagoon Resort, and another one at the Discovery Shores Boracay were also nabbed.
Authorities confirmed that all of them used the name of St. Luke’s Medical Center on the fake documents they submitted.
Last month, six tourists were also caught faking swab test results to enter Boracay. The Department of Tourism said they filed a case against them for falsification of public documents.
For January alone, Boracay accepted 11,898 visitors, with an average of 300 to 400 tourists daily, the DOT noted.
