DAVAO CITY — A young Davaoeño army officer assigned in Bulacan as weapons platoon leader of the 48th Infantry Battalion under the 7th Infantry Division has died due to suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Tuesday, 7 April 2020, in Bulacan.
But the family of Second Lieutenant Vince Magbanua, has yet to determine the cause of his death as the doctors of the Norzagaray Municipal Hospital has not taken a swab test when he went for a check-up Tuesday afternoon complaining about his severe difficulty of breathing, citing usual complaint on asthma and was advised to go home instead.
On Wednesday, the family in Davao was informed of his passing by officers from the Army Headquarters in Bulacan. The young officer’s twin brother Second Lieutenant Vico Magbanua, who is assigned in the nearby province rushed to the hospital Wednesday night but was told by doctors that there was no available test kit in the hospital but upon his insistence, a swab test was taken.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) confirmed the above information on Thursday. Magbanua, a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Alab Tala” Class of 2018, was diagnosed with acute bronchitis.
Vince, 24, single, finished his elementary and high school education at Collegio de San Ignacio, Davao City.
Vice and Vico are grandsons of the late businesswoman Edna Dela Cruz.
He was cremated an hour ago. His family wants his ashes returned to Davao when coronavirus pandemic is over, to give him an honorable burial.
AFP spokesperson Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said they are still awaiting the COVID-19 test results of Magbanua. Meantime, they are now tracing the people he had come in contact with.
This developed as an emergency quarantine facility was opened at the AFP headquarters in Quezon City on Thursday. It will serve mild to asymptomatic COVID-19 patients to decongest hospitals.
The Philippines now has 3,870 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 182 deaths and 96 recoveries.-Editha Z. Caduaya
