BY AARON RECUENCO
The Joint Task Force COVID Shield instructed on Thursday all police commanders to designate a policeman in every barangay to serve as quarantine rules supervisor.
The move was in response to President Duterte’s order to strictly enforce the wearing of face masks and observance of the physical distancing amid the continuous rise of corona virus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country.
Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, said that the police supervisor would serve as the team leader of the barangay security officers, or barangay tanod, in the enforcement of the minimum health safety protocols.
He stressed that the community level implementation of the quarantine rules is necessary to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“The presence of policemen is not only a proven crime deterrent but also compels civilians to behave. In this time of pandemic when compliance to the minimum health safety protocols is a must to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, we need to make the presence of the police in the barangay to ensure that the order of President Duterte is enforced properly and strictly,” said Eleazar.
The PNP has an existing program of Pulis sa Barangay which focuses on peace and order, and Eleazar said the program could be utilized by the police commanders to include quarantine rules enforcement.
Eleazar said barangays play a key role in the fight against COVID19 because based on the complaints and reports they have been receiving, local residents have started being complacent on the health safety protocols since the quarantine restrictions were eased in almost all parts of the country.
Residents at the barangay level have been reportedly shunning the use of face masks and have started converging again for a drinking session and even for gossiping.
“Enforcement of minimum health safety protocols at the community level is essential in our fight against the COVID-19. As health experts said, we should always assume that the people we are talking to and cross paths with are virus carriers so wearing face masks and physical distancing is really an integral part in our goal of defeating the coronavirus,” said Eleazar.
“This fight must be brought to the community level and the best way to do it is to make the presence of the police in every barangay, especially in areas where coronavirus infection is high,” he added.
Eleazar said the designation of policemen in the barangays as quarantine rules supervisors would assure their regular presence in the barangays, which would eventually compel local residents to behave.
In the event that the police forces are not enough to cover all the barangays in a city or municipality, he said the two options that could be tapped is for clustering of barangays or the augmentation from the local military forces. (Aaron Recuenco)
