COTABATO CITY – Another village chairman has been nabbed for selling quarantine passes among his constituents in a scheme meant to circumvent protocol on one pass per family in community lockdown against coronavirus (COVID-19) across the country.
The chairman of Barangay Mulaug in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao was arrested at his residence by the town police chief, his men and Mayor Shameem Mastura on the night of March 23.
The mayor recorded the arrest proceedings in a video footage that has turned viral in the Facebook since Tuesday.
The unnamed village official admitted in the footage having received “voluntary” money for quarantine passes, hinting at attempts by some his constituents to circumvent the protocol on one pass per family in the community lockdown.
Mayor Mastura ordered the arrest despite the suspects offer to return “all” his monetary collections.
Monday night’s arrest brought to two the number of barangay chairmen arrested for selling home quarantine passes.
A day earlier, Chairman Cassir Abinal of Barangay Mantapoli in Marantao, Lanao del Sur was arrested by police operatives responding to residents’ tips about alleged sale of quarantine passes in the village.
The arresting officers reportedly saw at the wall of Abinal’s a bond paper posted with a message asking for “P20 for home quarantine pass.”
The Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has lauded the two arrests, saying these “exemplified the seriousness” of the enhanced enforcement of state guidelines in the fight against COVID-19.
Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, to which the two arrested officials belong, are component provinces of the almost one-year old BARMM. (Ali G. Macabalang)
