Health Secretary Francisco Duque said Friday that Team Pacquiao and the congressmen who will be returning from Las Vegas, Nevada will be quarantined if they come home with swine flu symptoms.

Duque said after a conference among top officials of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Camp Aguinaldo that the government has to strictly implement the monitoring and screening of all arriving travellers from affected countries to effectively prevent the virus' entry into the country.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles had confirmed that he and his two sons will fly to Las Vegas to watch the much-awaited match between Manny Pacquiao and British boxer Ricky Hatton.

Nograles, in an earlier interview with radio dzMM's Dos Por Dos, had been warned of the swine flu virus, but shrugged off the possibility of being infected.

Aside from Nograles, Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, who is also an official of the Philippine Olympic Committee and a "member" of Team Pacquiao, also flew to Las Vegas to watch the fight.

There were reports that at least 50 congressmen will watch the fight in Las Vegas.

In defense

Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor earlier defended the presence of congressmen saying Pacquiao would need the support of fellow Filipinos in Las Vegas.

"Hindi naman insensitive. Maganda na may mga kongresista nandoon. Alam mo ang suntok ni Pacquiao, dumoble ang lakas. Sinasabi ni Father Reuter noong araw, 'Cheer. Cheer hard because that cheering will make a basketball player jump 12 to 24 inches higher or prolong his stamina by several minutes,"" Defensor said.

"Yung nararamdaman ni Pacquiao na masakit na ang tama, nakababa na ang kamao, yung bagsak na pero pag nakikita mo ang kababayan mo, alam mo na nag laban hindi lang sayo, laban para sa iyong bansa. Kaya ibigay na natin ang support sa kanya. Hindi masama yung ganoon," he added.
 
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, NDCC chairman, told radio dzMM in an interview that airport and port inspectors have been told to strictly inspect and check all passengers entering the country, including VIPs.

"Entry points have to be strictly monitored. There will be no VIPs [treatment] in the [thermal] scanning," he said.

He said government agencies under the NDCC have been ordered to go on the high alert after the World Health Organization's raised the swine flu alert level to 5.

Duque on Thursday announced that the government will quarantine a group of 300 pilgrims from the Philippines who went to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico when they return to the Philippines.

He said the government has asked the Mexican Embassy to release the names of the participants, a mix of various nationalities.

Phase 5 alert sends a signal to countries to ready the full implementation of their respective Pandemic Response Plans because there is now "human to human transmission of the virus causing sustained community outbreaks in at least two countries in one WHO region."
 
Seven more countries, aside from Mexico and the United States, confirmed cases of the novel swine influenza A (H1N1). 

P90M to battle deadly flu

Duque said during the press conference that the Department of Health needs P90 million to prepare for a possible outbreak of the influenza-A virus.

He said the money will be used to purchase additional anti-viral drugs and protective equipment such as masks, and provide funds for hospitals if and when the infections reach the Philippines.

Duque said he has ordered the DOH Health Emergency and Management Office to draft a detailed budgetary requirement for the government's action on three modes--low, medium, high--of possible impact of the virus in the country.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez, meanwhile, said the DOH can tap NDCC assets, including its P2-billion standby calamity fund, to prevent the spread of swine flu in the country

Golez said Teodoro has given Duque the authority to lead the government's preparation against the swine flu, which has reportedly killed nearly 200 people in Mexico.

"Every year, the NDCC has P2 billion as standby fund or calamity fund, for both natural and man-made disasters. This can be tapped by the DOH," Golez told ABS-CBN News Channel's Dateline Philippines.

Golez said President Arroyo has ordered the release of an initial P10 million fund for the purchase of additional 400,000 capsules of Oseltamivir or Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug used against influenza. The health department had said it has a stockpile of 600,000 capsules of Tamiflu.

He added that aside from the NDCC's standby fund, Duque can also use the agency's "communication system" from the highest level down to the barangay level. -- With reports from Jay Ruiz, ABS-CBN News; Carmela Fonbuena, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak