PNP: General who ordered ‘census’ to collect people's data now chief of JTF COVID Shield
MANILA, Philippines — The chief of the Philippine National Police named Police Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia as the new commander of the quarantine enforcement arm of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
In a statement, Police Gen. Dionardo Carlos said that effective Wednesday, March 2, Sermonia is designated as the Deputy Chief for Operations and concurrent Task Force Commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, which aids in the implementation of quarantine rules and health protocols.
Sermonia earlier made headlines during his tenure as former director of the PNP Police Community Relations unit in August 2021 after Sen. Panfilo Lacson accused him of gathering email addresses and phone numbers of barangay residents using the government anti-insurgency task force's funds.
At a Senate hearing, Lacson, the principal sponsor of the NTF-ELCAC's budget, asserted that Sermonia "has some explaining to do on the matter," as he claimed that 30% of residents in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao already had their data collected according to inside sources.
Then-PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar eventually admitted that "advocacy groups" backed by the police have been collecting data on the barangay level, but was careful to highlight that the information was freely given to them and was not taken by cops.
Eleazar also noted that Sermonia's unit was only “encouraging” people to sign up as force multipliers for advocacy groups backing the PNP. He added he had cautioned Sermonia that forcing people to join is not allowed.
With the promotion, Sermonia replaces Police Lt. Gen. Israel Ephraim Dickson, who was elevated to the higher position of PNP Deputy Chief for Administration, which is the second in command of the PNP. Before his current post, Sermonia served as the PNP's director for operations.
"As the new commander of this Task Force, I expect [Police Lt. Gen.] Sermonia will continue the plans and programs of the previous commander and enforce minimum health protocols for us to fully mitigate the deadly virus," Carlos said.
The JTF Covid-19 Shield is composed of members of the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fire Protection.
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