The commander of the Joint Task Force Corona Virus Shield (JTF CV Shield) has called on police commanders to dismantle barangay checkpoints along provincial and national roads across the country blamed earlier by agriculture officials for the impeded movement of delivery trucks ferrying food and other essential goods.
Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, head of the JTF CV Shield which is the enforcement arm of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), reminded police officials to uniformly implement the guidelines under the quarantine, which in the case of checkpoints, should be put and manned only by the JTF CV Shield.
Eleazar said the move was in compliance with the order of Interior Secretary Eduardo Año to remove all barangay checkpoints along major thoroughfares amid complaints of varying rules and regulations being implemented by certain local government units (LGUs) down to the barangay level, adding he had also coordinated this with Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Archie Gamboa for the full implementation of the order.
“Our Chief PNP, General Archie Gamboa, has already directed all the police commanders to assist us in the implementation of the SILG’s [Secretary of Interior and Local Government] order,” Eleazar said.
A statement issued by the PNP, through its spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, quoting Gamboa said the PNP chief has issued a directive mandating police commanders to supervise barangay checkpoints.
“To ensure uniform implementation of IATF-MEID guidelines, all QCPs [Quarantine Control Points] at the barangay level must be coordinated with the Municipal Joint Task Group and directly supervised by the PNP Unit commander or chief of police,” Gamboa said.
“Under the guidance of the IATF-MEID, PNP units manning Quarantine Control Points are under strict orders to guarantee safe and unimpeded passage of food products, basic and essential commodities and authorized personnel categorized in the medical, agricultural, industrial and utilities sectors, subject to existing biosafety and quarantine protocols,” he added.
Agriculture officials earlier pointed to checkpoints manned and put up by barangay and local government units behind the spike of food prices and even the artificial shortage of agriculture products in the market as delivery trucks were being halted and turned away by barangay and other local personnel manning QCPs.
In the same order, Gamboa also “directed all local police units to provide every possible assistance and security to medical staff and health workers following the two separate incidents of violent attacks in Cebu and Sultan Kudarat in recent days.”
“At this time of national health emergency, the Philippine National Police stands doubly committed to apply the full might of the law against any person who will lay hands on our health workers, thus, we shall do whatever it takes to protect them from crime, violence, and any form of oppression and discrimination,” he said.
Eleazar said the existence of barangay checkpoints along national highways and provincial roads has not only resulted in the delay on the movement of basic commodities but also caused confusion among the people, particularly those exempted from the home quarantine or APOR, as some barangay officials are implementing quarantine rules and regulations which are not in line with the guidelines issued by the IATF.
APOR stands for Authorized Persons Outside Residence.
“Some of these barangay checkpoints are implementing their own rules which are clearly in defiance of the IATF guidelines. We in the JTF CV Shield have been receiving similar complaints from cargo owners and drivers and even from people who are supposed to be exempted,” Eleazar said.
He said that only PNP checkpoints are allowed along national highways and provincial roads and that only PNP personnel are allowed to inspect cargo trucks passing along the major thoroughfares.
Eleazar said barangay checkpoints are only allowed on interior roads provided that there is a prior coordination with the local police station for their set up and that those barangay checkpoints will be supervised by the local police.
He explained that the supervision of the PNP on all barangay checkpoints is necessary in order to ensure that the barangay officials will not be given any chance to implement rules and regulations that are not aligned with the IATF Guidelines, particularly on the APOR.
Eleazar said that based on the same directive issued by Gamboa, all chiefs of police and station commanders were directed to make sure that all barangay checkpoints are complying with the IATF rules and the APOR issued by the JTF CV Shield.
“The Chief PNP also approved our recommendation for the chiefs of police and station commanders to make sure that the IATF guidelines prevail over the rules and regulations of the LGUs. This is the reason why we have been providing the local commanders the regular updates on IATF guidelines particularly on APOR,” Eleazar said.
Meanwhile, Gamboa said that the PNP has already arrested more than 500 people for economic-related cases under the being implemented lockdown.
“During the first three weeks of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon, we have arrested filed appropriate charges against 593 persons arrested for hoarding, profiteering and price manipulation of prices of consumer goods, medical supplies and other commodities,” he said.
“To help mitigate the effects of this national emergency to the local economy and domestic consumer market, the PNP will step up police operations in support of the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] to strictly enforce the price act and pertinent provisions of the Bayanihan Act of 2020, even as I urge traders, retailers and businessmen to heed President Duterte’s call…hindi ngayon ang panahon para kumita lalo na ang pagsasamantala,” the PNP chief stressed.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila