ILOILO CITY—The top cop of Capiz province became the highest ranking police official in the Western Visayas region to have been infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“I would like to declare to the people of Capiz that I tested positive for COVID-19,” said Police Col. Julio Gustilo Jr., the director of Capiz Police Provincial Office (CPPO).
“I have not shown any symptoms of COVID-19,” added Gustilo in a public announcement via his social media page on Thursday, August 27.
Gustilo became the second official in Capiz infected with COVID-19. Last August 24, Governor Esteban Evan Contreras II also announced he has COVID-19.
According to Gustilo, he cannot pinpoint from whom he got the infection or where.
“As a high-ranking police official, it cannot be avoided that I physically go out to check the situation in the province,” Gustilo said in a statement written in Hiligaynon.
Gustilo is now under strict quarantine and has urged those who had contact with him or engaged with him in person since last week to also undergo strict quarantine.
He assured that he is still doing his work as the province’s top cop.