PNP to dismantle all barangay checkpoints under uniform guidelines
Published Mar 31, 2020 05:14 am
By Aaron Recuenco
Police commanders were ordered on Tuesday to dismantle all the existing barangay checkpoints set up along the national highway and provincial roads in a bid to implement a uniform quarantine guidelines against the spread of the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19).
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) P/Maj. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar
(PHOTO FROM PIO NCRPO / FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the Joint Task Force Corona Virus Shield (JTF CV Shield), said the order was issued amid the complaints on the implementation of different rules on home quarantine. The JTF CV Shield is the enforcement arm of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. It is composed of the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fire Protection. Eleazar, who is also the PNP deputy chief for Operations, explained that the removal of barangay checkpoints along the major thoroughfares is aimed at ensuring the unhampered travel of cargoes delivering foods and other basic needs as well as to avoid confusion on the rules governing the Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APOR). APOR is part of the guideline being reviewed and updated by the JTF CV Shield based on the guidelines of the IATF. Eleazar said that the existence of barangay checkpoints along national highways and provincial roads has resulted in the delay of the movement of basic commodities and also caused confusion among the people, particularly those exempted from the home quarantine. This is the reason, according to Eleazar, why guidelines on the conduct of checkpoints were issued before. But despite the guidelines issued on the conduct of checkpoints, they still received complaints that some barangay checkpoints are disregarding the IATF rules. “Some of these barangay checkpoints are implementing their own rules which are clearly in defiance of the IATF guidelines. We in the JTF CV Shield have been receiving similar complaints from cargo owners and drivers and even from people who are supposed to be exempted from home quarantine but were being barred in barangay checkpoints,” said Eleazar. “President Duterte’s order is very clear: It is the IATF Guidelines that should always prevail,” he stressed. Eleazar said that the order to remove barangay checkpoints along major thoroughfares is in compliance with the order of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año. Eleazar said that he had already coordinated with the Chief PNP, Gen. Archie Gamboa, for the full implementation of the order. “Our Chief PNP, General Archie Gamboa, has already directed all the police commanders to assist us in the implementation of the SILG’s order,” said Eleazar. Based on the DILG order, Eleazar only PNP checkpoints are allowed along national highway and provincial road and that only PNP personnel are allowed to inspect cargo trucks passing along the major thoroughfares. Barangay checkpoints are only allowed in interior roads provided that there is a prior coordination with the local police station for their set up and that those barangay checkpoints will be supervised by the local police. “The supervision of the PNP on all barangay checkpoints is necessary in order to ensure that the barangay officials will not be given any chance to implement rules and regulations that are not aligned with the IATF Guidelines, particularly on the APOR,” said Eleazar. Eleazar said that all chiefs of police and station commanders were directed to make sure that all barangay checkpoints are complying with the IATF rules and the APOR issued by the JTF CV Shield. “The Chief PNP also approved our recommendation for the chiefs of police and station commanders to make sure that the IATF Guidelines prevail over the rules and regulations of the LGUs. This is the reason why we have been providing the local commanders the regular updates on IATF Guidelines particularly on APOR,” said Eleazar. “While the situation has already improved in the past days, there are still some problems in other areas because some of the LGUs (Local Government Units) are insisting on following their own rules, some of these rules contradict the IATF Guideline. This should not be the case. There should be a uniform rule to avoid confusion and delay of the movement of cargoes,” he added. The order to dismantle barangay checkpoints along national highways and provincial roads also applies in the Visayas and Mindanao as some local government units have also imposed their own lockdowns amid the threats of COVID-19.
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) P/Maj. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar(PHOTO FROM PIO NCRPO / FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the Joint Task Force Corona Virus Shield (JTF CV Shield), said the order was issued amid the complaints on the implementation of different rules on home quarantine. The JTF CV Shield is the enforcement arm of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. It is composed of the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fire Protection. Eleazar, who is also the PNP deputy chief for Operations, explained that the removal of barangay checkpoints along the major thoroughfares is aimed at ensuring the unhampered travel of cargoes delivering foods and other basic needs as well as to avoid confusion on the rules governing the Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APOR). APOR is part of the guideline being reviewed and updated by the JTF CV Shield based on the guidelines of the IATF. Eleazar said that the existence of barangay checkpoints along national highways and provincial roads has resulted in the delay of the movement of basic commodities and also caused confusion among the people, particularly those exempted from the home quarantine. This is the reason, according to Eleazar, why guidelines on the conduct of checkpoints were issued before. But despite the guidelines issued on the conduct of checkpoints, they still received complaints that some barangay checkpoints are disregarding the IATF rules. “Some of these barangay checkpoints are implementing their own rules which are clearly in defiance of the IATF guidelines. We in the JTF CV Shield have been receiving similar complaints from cargo owners and drivers and even from people who are supposed to be exempted from home quarantine but were being barred in barangay checkpoints,” said Eleazar. “President Duterte’s order is very clear: It is the IATF Guidelines that should always prevail,” he stressed. Eleazar said that the order to remove barangay checkpoints along major thoroughfares is in compliance with the order of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año. Eleazar said that he had already coordinated with the Chief PNP, Gen. Archie Gamboa, for the full implementation of the order. “Our Chief PNP, General Archie Gamboa, has already directed all the police commanders to assist us in the implementation of the SILG’s order,” said Eleazar. Based on the DILG order, Eleazar only PNP checkpoints are allowed along national highway and provincial road and that only PNP personnel are allowed to inspect cargo trucks passing along the major thoroughfares. Barangay checkpoints are only allowed in interior roads provided that there is a prior coordination with the local police station for their set up and that those barangay checkpoints will be supervised by the local police. “The supervision of the PNP on all barangay checkpoints is necessary in order to ensure that the barangay officials will not be given any chance to implement rules and regulations that are not aligned with the IATF Guidelines, particularly on the APOR,” said Eleazar. Eleazar said that all chiefs of police and station commanders were directed to make sure that all barangay checkpoints are complying with the IATF rules and the APOR issued by the JTF CV Shield. “The Chief PNP also approved our recommendation for the chiefs of police and station commanders to make sure that the IATF Guidelines prevail over the rules and regulations of the LGUs. This is the reason why we have been providing the local commanders the regular updates on IATF Guidelines particularly on APOR,” said Eleazar. “While the situation has already improved in the past days, there are still some problems in other areas because some of the LGUs (Local Government Units) are insisting on following their own rules, some of these rules contradict the IATF Guideline. This should not be the case. There should be a uniform rule to avoid confusion and delay of the movement of cargoes,” he added. The order to dismantle barangay checkpoints along national highways and provincial roads also applies in the Visayas and Mindanao as some local government units have also imposed their own lockdowns amid the threats of COVID-19.