By MARTIN SADONGDONG
The Philippine National Police said yesterday that it is preparing to mobilize around 40,000 cops in case the government implements a lockdown in Metro Manila to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019.
Police Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa, PNP chief, said the bulk will come from the National Capital Region Police Office with 28,000 personnel while the remaining will be sourced from the different National Support Units in Camp Crame in Quezon City.
“Ang lockdown kasi, you should get a signal from the DoH and certain protocols must be observed but the PNP will always be there,” Gamboa said.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año had earlier raised the possibility of a Metro Manila lockdown should the Department of Health raise its COVID-19 Alert System to Code Red Sub-Level 2, which means that there is a continuous transmission of the disease.
The country is at present under Code Red Sub-Level 1 which was up when the Health department confirmed the first ever case of local COVID-19 transmission in the country. This prompted President Duterte to place the entire country in a state of public health emergency.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines is ready to support government plans to combat COVID-19, including deploying military personnel in case of a lockdown.
QUARANTINE
AREAS FOR LAWMEN
Gamboa ordered the 17 police regional offices across the country to establish quarantine areas for policemen exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.
“Each of the different PNP units nationwide should have their own quarantine areas. Puwede naman tayong house quarantine pero if necessary na talagang gawin dito sa kampo kung very immediate, then kasama ‘yan sa plano,” he said.
The quarantine areas will be manned by trained police nurses and doctors.
This measure was implemented as Police Major Gen. Debold Sinas, NCRPO chief, reported that four personnel have been placed under home quarantine as preventive measures from contracting the deadly respiratory disease. Two of them were senior officers while two are non-uniformed personnel.
‘OPLAN: BANDILLO’
The NCRPO has implemented “Oplan: Bandillo” as Metro Manila cops are patrolling to escort unsupervised children loitering on the streets back to their homes since classes in the National Capital Region have been suspended until March 14.
Sinas explained that they implemented Oplan Bandillo for community awareness and information dissemination on best practices to avoid being infected by COVID-19, including practice of proper hygiene and avoiding places of convergence.
Curfew hours will be strictly implemented in Metro Manila while the public is advised to limit possible visits to the detainees.
PUV CRAMMING
BARRED
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Martin Delgra III has directed public utility vehicle operators, especially buses, to strictly limit their passengers in connection with the social distancing measure which is one of the precautionary strategies against the spread of COVID-19 by the World Health Organization and the Department of Health.
“We follow the protocol of the WHO, as well as the DoH, as regards to taking any PUV for that reason (social distancing). I know, especially for buses, it’s quite crowded inside and we would like to address that by calling the attention of the operators,” Delgra said.
Delgra said cramming passengers inside public buses is prohibited but added that standing inside the vehicle is still allowed. “Under our existing rules, standing is allowed to a certain extent but overcrowding is prohibited especially at this time of national emergency. (Alexandria San Juan)
