DBM OIC Canda tests positive for COVID-19

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Officer-in-Charge  Undersecretary Tina Rose Marie Canda on Monday confirmed she tested positive for COVID-19, but remains asymptomatic.

According to Canda, she was tested for COVID-19 on Sunday, August 22, in preparation for the submission of the proposed 2022 national budget to Congress on Monday.

“Our routine exam before going to those events, usually we have an antigen. I wanted to have an RT-PCR, so the RT-PCR came out positive. I’ve had a history of false positives, so I just had myself re-swabbed. Apparently, I'm asymptomatic but I hope it stays that way,” she said in a phone interview.

Canda said she remained quarantined at her residence and would continue to function as DBM OIC moving forward, should her condition remain the same.

“I’m in quarantine right now. I’m not even getting out of my room. I still function, I still do my work here inside my room in my house,” she said.

Canda was assigned DBM OIC last August 2, 2021, when former Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado went on medical leave following his bout with COVID-19. His resignation was announced on August 13, after being hospitalized for eight days and quarantined for over a month.

Other officials of the DBM submitted the proposed P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022 to Congress earlier on Monday.

The budget was guided by three main pillars: building resilience amidst the pandemic, sustaining the momentum towards recovery, and continuing the legacy of infrastructure development. — DVM, GMA News