THE local government of Gen. Trias City in Cavite has suspended for 30 days a barangay captain and three kagawads in connection with the holding of a procession in July where health protocols were violated,
Interior undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said chairman Rolando Pagkaliwangan and kagawads Joey Loyola, Francisco Solis, and Ferdinand Perdito of Barangay Santiago were suspended for allowing the holding of a “karakol,” or procession, which was attended by hundreds of residents.
A video of the procession which went viral on social media showed that most of the residents who attended the event did not wear face masks and shields and did not observe physical distancing.
The city council conducted an investigation into the incident shortly after Interior Secretary Eduardo Año ordered a probe on the potential COVID-19 super spreader event.
Malaya said Mayor Antonio Ferrer approved the 30-day suspension which was recommended by the city council pending further investigation into the incident.
“Kudos to the city mayor and the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Gen. Trias, Cavite for acting quickly on the ‘karakol’ incident,” said Malaya in welcoming the decision.
“May other LGUs (local government units) take a cue from this incident, putting into the forefront the stringent implementation of health protocols even down to the barangay level,” added Malaya.
In a separate incident, PNP chief Gen.Guillermo Eleazar ordered the Caloocan City police to help in the contact-tracing of leaders from Barangay 14 following a recent hostage-taking that turned into a potential COVID-19 super spreader event.
On Friday, Anthony Ramos Soriano of Bulacan, who was armed with a knife, held hostage a 15-year-old boy in Barangay 14. The suspect was believed to be high on drugs.
The suspect released the victim abount an hour later but the incident drew a large number of people, many of them taking pictures or videos of the incident. Worse, they ignored COVID-19 health protocols on physical distancing.
“The local police will help with the Caloocan City government, particularly with Barangay 14, in tracing the individuals who flocked and observed the hostage-taking that occurred (last Friday),” Eleazar said.
“I already issued a memorandum to our policemen about the protocols on hostage-taking incidents and other similar cases that should be followed, particularly on crowd control,” he said as he reminded all policemen to follow police procedures in handling similar cases, specifically securing the site and preventing unauthorized persons so as not to further agitate hostage-takers.
