The Joint Task Force COVID Shield tasked all police commanders, especially in Metro Manila and other urban areas, to increase their vigilance and tighten security protocols. This is aimed at warding off possible terror attacks following the twin bombings in Jolo on Monday that led to the death of at least 15 security forces and civilians.

Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, said the present enforcement of the quarantine rules down to the barangay level has prepared the ground for target-hardening measures aimed at denying any terror group the opportunity to strike at possible targets.

“Since March 17, we have set up and further improved the security measures to enforce the quarantine rules. These measures could be maximized by our local commanders to protect their respective areas of responsibilities (AORs) against any terror threats,” said Eleazar.

“The existence of quarantine control points (QCPs) at the borders of cities and provinces is already a part of the target hardening measures as policemen manning the checkpoints are mandated to check all the passing motorcycles and other vehicles,” he added.

Aside from QCPs or border control checkpoints, other security measures in place are the intensified police visibility especially in business districts and places of convergence and the requirement for a travel authority before any person could cross the borders of provinces and regions.

Those measures, according to Eleazar, were implemented to contain the movement of the people and eventually prevent the transmission of the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19). These could be used to lessen or deny terror groups the opportunity to carry out terror attacks in other places outside where they are currently holed up.

“The good working relationship we have established with the local government units (LGUs) on the community level enforcement of the quarantine protocols also transformed the LGU’s own security officers, like (the) barangay tanods, to be alert especially against strangers or new faces entering their respective communities,” said Eleazar.

He said among the initiatives that were initiated by the LGUs are the regular conduct of patrol especially places of convergence and the strict implementation of curfew in most parts of the country.

The JTF COVID Shield is the enforcement arm of the National Task Force on COVID-19. It is composed of the PNP, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fire Protection.