Eleazar says politicians not exempted from public health safety rules
Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has ordered a thorough investigation on the viral beach party video involving some Cebu politicians at the Camotes Island last month, stressing that politicians are no exempted from strict implementation of the quarantine rules.
Eleazar said that he also directed the Regional Director of the Police Regional Office 7, Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo, to initiate appropriate actions on the incident based on the existing laws and protocols on public health amid the threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"Nakarating sa kaalaman ng inyong PNP ang report ng paglabag ng quarantine protocols sa Cebu sa pamamagitan ng isang viral video na ipinaabot naman ng ilan nating mga kababayan (We received the report about quarantine protocol violations in Cebu through a viral video which was forwarded to the PNP)," said Eleazar.
"Mahigpit ang bilin ng ating SILG Eduardo Año tungkol sa mga paglabag sa quarantine rules kaya makakaasa ang ating mga kababayan na tututukan natin ito kahit sino pa man ang involved dito (We have orders from Secretary of the Interior and Local Government) Eduardo Año to strictly implement the quarantine rules and our people could expect that we will focus on this and those involved, whoever they are)," he added.
According to Año, his department received information about the party, which took place last July 10, from an anonymous complainant. Uploaded videos of the beach party showed the guests seemingly completely disregarding minimum public health safety standards and quarantine protocols.
Eleazar reminded the public that the there is still a COVID-19 pandemic, thus, minimum health standards must strictly be observed and mass gatherings or potential super spreader events are prohibited.
Meanwhile, the PNP Chief encouraged the public to continue reporting to authorities violations of minimum public health safety standards and quarantine protocols.
“Ang insidenteng ito ay isinumbong lang ng isang concerned citizen. (This incident was forwarded to the PNP through a concerned citizen) We urge the public to continue reporting to authorities incidents where minimum public health safety standards and quarantine protocols are violated," said Eleazar.