MANILA (UPDATE) - Senator Sonny Angara said Monday he has recovered from the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Angara, 47, said he was sent home from the hospital on Monday after he tested negative from the virus, and was declared pneumonia-free.

"Am truly grateful for the gift of life and even more so now for those at the front lines who safeguard our lives and protect our society," he said in an Instagram post.

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A post shared by sonny angara (@sonnyangara) on Apr 6, 2020 at 12:09am PDT

The senator, who initially announced that he was sick with COVID-19 on March 26, also paid tribute to health workers on the frontlines of the battle against the pandemic.

"I met nurses and doctors who don't go home anymore, some even doing double duty in other hospitals. They truly, truly are REAL HEROES," he wrote.

His wife, Tootsy, earlier said that their family and household staff also had to undergo a 14-day quarantine after they were exposed to the senator who was a carrier of the virus.

"I will be at home with my son when he celebrates his bday this weekend but many of our health workers will not make it home as a measure of protection for their families," he said.

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Angara was the third Philippine senator to have acquired the disease, after Senators Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri and Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III.