IF communist rebels will continue to disrupt the flow of relief goods for those most affected by the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, the leadership of the House of Representatives is prepared to support President Duterte if he decides to declare martial law.
“Whatever the Executive decides, the House is always very, very responsive,” majority leader Martin Romualdez told reporters after a virtual technical working group (TWG) meeting of the House Defeat COVID-19 committee’s peace and order cluster.
Romualdez said the House has been conducting TWG hearings to come up with anti-COVID-19 measures so it can be “responsive and more sensitive” to the people’s needs and concerns.
“As it is today, the House is in partnership with the executive and with our law enforcers, with our men in uniform, with the chief implementer and chief PNP (Gen. Archie Gamboa), with our secretary of DILG (Eduardo Año),” he said.
Romualdez assured the public that the House and the rest of the government “will be one in defeating this COVID together.”
Duterte has been threatening to declare martial law should the “lawlessness” allegedly being committed by communist rebels continues.
The President has accused the New People’s Army (NPA) of stealing relief goods and killing soldiers.
Last Tuesday, NPA rebels ambushed soldiers securing the distribution of the government’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in Maria Aurora town in Aurora, leaving two soldiers dead and five others injured.
Also an April 19 in Himamaylan City in Negros Oriental, soldiers securing residents receiving their cash aids were attacked by the rebels, leaving three soldiers, including a junior officer, dead and four others injured.
VIOLATIONS DECLINING
Gamboa told the House TWG meeting that the number of violators of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) has declined from as much as 8,000 last March 17 to 300 to 400 a day.
“There has been an improvement and probably because of the constant implementation of quarantine regulations,” he said.
Before April 23, he noted that only 23 percent of the violators were fined and charged while some 70 percent were given warnings.
He said all recent violators were fined and charged in court with no leniency because of the extended Luzon lockdown set to end on May 15.
“Later upon the directive of strict implementation this has actually shifted to 100 percent (apprehension) already fined and who are charged in court,” Gamboa said.
