Cops ready for ‘time-out weekend’

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

 

BACOLOD City – Police here and in Negros Occidental are preparing the deployment of personnel to border control quarantine check-up points for the four-day lock down this week amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Police Major Edison Garcia, public information officer of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo), said they will initially deploy 24 policemen to each quarantine check-up point in the cities of Bago, Talisay, Silay, and Murcia town.

These areas are considered the possible entry and exit points of people and vehicles to Bacolod and province.

Garcia said they are continuously assessing the tasks they will be doing during the timeout weekend from Aug 28 to 31 for the conduct of swab tests on 10,000 symptomatic individuals.

He said they are identifying key cities and areas where they will place quarantine control points manned by security forces, including the military, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Fire Protection.

He said there will be four quarantine control points each in Bago and Silay, three in Talisay, and two in Murcia.

This is to control the movement of people going into and from the province, he added.

He also stressed the help of other government agencies in the fight against the pandemic.

“We cannot do this alone.”

Meanwhile, Police Colonel Ariel Pico, public information officer of BCPO, said 38 inner and outer border control check-up points will be placed again in major areas within the city to strictly monitor the movement of people.

“This is somehow similar to the previous Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) measures,” Pico said.

He, however, said they are still waiting for the official instructions from the local Inter-Agency Task Force, considering the re-implementation of a home quarantine pass during these times, adding that public transport initially will still continue amid the proposed lockdown.

More than 600 police forces will be utilized, including those in police stations for the said purpose, Pico said.

Both police offices are still conducting consultations and assessment to determine their final tasks.