INVESTIGATE. Antique Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao said there were apparent lapses on how the cadaver of a Covid-19 patient who died last April 23 at the Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital in San Jose de Buenavista was handled. During the virtual meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Friday (May 14, 2021), she said that she is letting the Department of the Interior and Local Government investigate the case. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – An investigation is being conducted on the alleged mishandling of a patient who died of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at the Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital (ASMGH) here in April.
Cherryl Tacda, director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Antique, said on Friday the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) has seven days to respond upon receipt of the communication from her office.
“I have sent a letter to Governor Rhodora Cadiao attention to the IPHO last May 7 following a Memorandum Order from the DILG Regional Office 6 for them to submit a report about the death of a Covid-19 patient,” she said in an interview.
The Legal Unit of their regional office will set a schedule to hear the matter, depending on how they appreciate their response, she added.
During Friday's virtual meeting of the Antique Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for Covid-19, Cadiao said she was made aware of the alleged lapses and gave the DILG a leeway to conduct its investigation.
“I know there had been lapses, but for me let our province mate already rest in peace,” she said during the virtual IATF meeting.
She also appealed to critics to understand the plight of health workers at the ASMGH if they had been remiss in attending to the cadaver as they had been fighting Covid-19 for more than a year.
The body of Nolasco Samillano, 55 and who died on April 23, was kept at the hospital morgue for eight days without the knowledge of his family.
In a previous interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Joshua, son of the deceased, said they thought his father’s remains were buried 12 hours after he died as per protocol of the IATF.
They learned about the situation when a nurse from the hospital called his younger sibling to claim the cadaver on May 1.
The Samillano family was also placed under quarantine after being exposed to their Covid-infected father. (PNA)
