Negros cops enforce strict border inspections

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – Personnel of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) and Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) mounted checkpoints and border inspections in the province Monday.

The city government placed Bacolod under general community quarantine on Sunday, following the surge in cases of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in the country.

Police Colonel Henry Biñas, BCPO director, said eight officers were deployed to four borders to secure the entry points to Bacolod from the cities of Bago and Talisay, Murcia, and Barangay Alangilan here.

Biñas said the officers were given face masks as protection while assisting the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) in the inspection of passengers in all public and private vehicles.

They were also provided with thermal scanners to check the temperatures of people on the road, he added.

Biñas advised people to follow orders and refrain from leaving the city if it is not necessary. Non-residents are also banned from entering the city, except for valid reasons.

He said full deployment of policemen started Monday night.

“This is not just about preventing COVID-19 although our focus for now is on the safety of the public against the viral disease, but this is also to prevent criminalities by preventing outsiders to enter the city,” the city police director said.

Meanwhile, Police Colonel Romeo Baleros, Nocppo director, conducted staff conference at the provincial police headquarters Monday to discuss their measures in border areas, following the executive order issued by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson on Sunday which shut down borders, ports, and airports in the province due to the COVID-19 threat in the country.

Police chiefs were told to monitor their areas of jurisdiction to prevent the entry of non-residents to the province.

He also appealed to the people of Negros to limit their movement and activities in public places, malls, and other crowded areas.