By Jennifer P. Rendon
The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) confirmed on Friday that they already received a directive relative to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to arrest barangay captains in areas where mass gatherings happen, which is a violation of health protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson, said she received a message from Colonel Adrian Acollador, PRO-6 Regional Operations Division chief, that a directive was already handed down by Lieutenant General Joselito Vera Cruz.
Cruz is the PNP deputy chief for operations and the head of Joint Task Force (JTF) COVID-19 Shield.
The directive reportedly cited an order from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) reiterating Duterte’s earlier pronouncement to arrest barangay captains who allow mass gatherings in their turfs.
Malong said mass gatherings are considered super-spreaders of the virus.
“So, if there are gatherings of persons that don’t belong to the same household, it should not be allowed,” she said.
If police catch barangay captains attending such events, they could be immediately arrested and detained for 12 hours.
Investigation will subsequently follow and so is the filing of a criminal charge for violation of Article 208 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
Violation of Article 208 pertains to “the penalty of prision correccional in its minimum period and suspension shall be imposed upon any public officer, or officer of the law, who, in dereliction of the duties of his office, shall maliciously refrain from instituting prosecution for the punishment of violators of the law, or shall tolerate the commission of offenses.”
Malong said she also sought advice from the PRO-6 legal officer on what to do with barangay captains in areas where police discover mass gatherings but the officials are not around.
“We were told to do regular filing in court,” she said.
Malong said the directive was already relayed to lower units.
In a meeting with pandemic task force officials, Duterte said police should arrest barangay officials who allow mass gathering and have them investigated and detained.
Duterte’s order came after reports that swimming parities and picnics led to the local transmissions of the virus.
