Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

MALAY, Aklan—The municipal government here on Tuesday confirmed that a personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Iloilo City, who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was in Boracay over the weekend.

Local government officials said the woman went to Boracay on Friday, June 12, saying she needed to be there for a conference.

According to the local government unit’s statement, the person wrote on a manifesto that she and her colleagues originated from Kalibo, Aklan. The same BFP personnel left Boracay on Sunday, June 14 at 1:40 p.m.

She is now quarantined in a facility in Iloilo City.

Boracay opened its doors Tuesday, June 16, for tourists from Western Visayas after the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force opened the island for local tourism.

Malay LGU officials convened Tuesday to discuss the development on COVID-19 cases. To date, Boracay remains COVID-free.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Malay town government released a statement on Facebook, confirming the Iloilo woman’s presence on Boracay and calling it an “unfortunate incident.”

“The BFP personnel allegedly went on unofficial business and violated quarantine protocols of both the Municipality of Malay and Municipality of Kalibo (the personnel’s place of origin),” the statement read.

The LGU condemned the disregard for quarantine protocols, as acting Malay Mayor Frolibar Bautista mulled filing charges.

On Monday, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas called the attention of the BFP for not presenting immediately the said personnel who was found COVID-19 positive.

Treñas is preparing to file a complaint against erring BFP personnel and officials, which will be submitted to the Inter-Agency Task Force.

Meanwhile, also on Monday, Fire Inspector Mary Angeli Bolocon, spokesperson of the BFP Region 6, confirmed that the bureau staff with COVID-19 arrived in Iloilo City on June 5.

She had come from Cebu where she lived and was stranded there after the province was locked down.

Her rapid-test results turned up negative, but the result of her swab specimen was only released on Sunday, June 14.

• Opisina ng BFP sa Iloilo City, pansamantalang isinara dahil sa empleyadong nagpositibo sa COVID-19

ABS-CBN News tried to get the BFP regional office’s side on the issue, but no one has responded to requests for interview.

Meanwhile, more than a hundred BFP personnel underwent swab test Tuesday morning.

The BFP regional office, provincial office and the adjacent Iloilo City office was locked down on Monday.

The said offices and firetrucks have been disinfected, as other substations remain open. — with reports from Joyce Clavecillas, Cherry Palma and Nony Basco, ABS-CBN News