Pangasinan village chief probed for ECQ birthday party

CALASIAO, Pangasinan, Philippines  – A barangay captain in this town is under investigation after he reportedly posted a photo on Facebook showing him drinking liquor at a birthday party that he attended last week.

The Calasiao police will probe Severino Tuazon of Barangay Poblacion East and his companions as ordered by Pangasinan police director Col. Redrico Maranan, according to report of GMA Regional TV in Dagupan City.

The same report quoted James Fadrilan, Department of the Interior and Local Government-Ilocos regional director, as saying that the DILG would investigate the incident.

The photo reportedly shows Tuazon with his drinking buddies who were not wearing face masks.

The barangay official claimed he reminded those who attended the birthday party on the liquor ban as the province was then under enhanced community quarantine. He said he also asked the guests to observe physical distancing.

“But you know, when friends gather, they sit beside each other,” Tuazon said.

A liquor ban remains in effect in Pangasinan even as it shifted to general community quarantine yesterday.

The DILG had earlier said it would ask Mayor Timoteo Villar III of Sto. Tomas town to respond to allegations of breaking quarantine protocols during a mañanita or midnight serenade during his birthday on May 6.

Videos posted on Facebook show Villar, who was not wearing a face mask, shaking hands with his well-wishers, among them police officers and municipal government officials.

Quarantine violations

Meanwhile, in Zamboanga peninsula, at least 3,170 people were arrested for violating quarantine protocols in the past two months.

Brig. Gen. Froilan Quidilla, regional police director, said nearly 3,000 were apprehended for curfew violations.

Quidilla said 269 of the offenders were charged in court, 560 were fined and 2,099 issued warnings and sent home.

He said Zamboanga City recorded the highest number of violators, with 1,398.

In Ilocos Sur, two men were arrested for allegedly breaching their 14-day quarantine and engaging in a drinking spree on Friday.

Police said Basilio Salazar, 70, and Zaldy Campos, 56, residents of Barangay San Roque in Murphy, Quezon City, were told to undergo quarantine after arriving in Barangay Casilagan in Sta. Cruz to attend the wake of a police officer.

In Ifugao, six men were arrested in Barangay Baguinge, Kiangan for violating the liquor ban.

Authorities said four of those arrested challenged police officers to a fistfight. Roel Pareño, Raymund Catindig