By Joseph B.A. Marzan
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. on Tuesday directed police and barangay captains to strictly implement prohibitions on social gatherings in the community levels due to the continued rise in COVID-19 cases in the province.
In a memorandum issued April 6, 2021, Defensor enjoined the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Barangay COVID Defense (BaCod), PNP chiefs in the provincial, city, and municipal levels, as well as barangay captains in the province, to strictly enforce the following health protocols and community quarantine measures:
– Prohibition on social or public gatherings in the barangay level, such as birthday parties, fiesta thanksgiving feasts, wedding receptions, baptismal banquets, anniversary celebration, and other similar gatherings;
– Information operations to be conducted by local task forces through the PNP BaCod-PnB-BET (Patrolya ng Bayan-Barangay Enforcement Teams) and through barangay captains, and;
– Monitoring by local task forces of schedule of barangay fiestas, and delivery of a memorandum by the PNP-BaCod-BET to the barangay captains at least 5 days before the fiesta, as a reminder to barangay residents on the prohibition on social or public gatherings.
The memorandum clarified that while social or public gatherings such as those listed are prohibited, immediate families can celebrate within their homes, limited only to them and other residents in the household.
Defensor told Daily Guardian via phone interview that the provincial government has determined social gatherings as one of the causes of the continued rise in COVID-19 cases in the region, as shown by their studies on contact tracing data.
He also added, however, that social gatherings were not the only reason for the rise as he attributed the new cases to Authorized Persons Outside their Residence (APORs), Locally-Stranded Individuals (LSIs), and Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs).
Latest data from the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) indicated 5,501 confirmed cases in the province, with 522 active cases, 4,833 recoveries, and 146 deaths.
IPHO data as of March 31 also showed that daily average of new cases in March remained at 29, the same number in February.
The governor said he wished for a more “focused” approach to containing the COVID menace, which prompted him to issue the memorandum.
“When you look at the memorandum, there was only one subject, because we want to give attention to the situations in the community level, with the help of the PNP’s BaCod. We want to campaign for people to enjoy their stay at home together with the local task forces and the police,” Defensor said.
