DILG to file cases vs organizers, local officials involved in Cebu City procession
MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Monday that they intend to file complaints against organizers and officials involved in the religious activity held in a Cebu City barangay last weekend.
Cebu City was reverted back to enhanced community quarantine after health officials recorded a spike in COVID-19 infections in the locality. But over the weekend, there were reports that a sitio in barangay Basak, San Nicolas held a fiesta.
The FREEMAN reported that a religious procession, which ended with a Sinulog dance, took place in Sitio Alumnos, Barangay Basak, San Nicolas in Cebu City on the evening of June 27.
LOOK: Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella orders officials of Brgy Basak San Nicolas to explain within 24 hours the procession and dancing in one of its sitios on Saturday night, at the height of ECQ | via Alicia Chua #TheFreeman pic.twitter.com/5YjzYgRWpl
— The Freeman (@TheFreemanNews) June 28, 2020
In an interview with ANC, Año said: “We are going to file cases against organizers for violating this quarantine protocols.”
The interior secretary said the barangay captain and head of police community center that has jurisdiction over the area will also be made to explain.
In a separate interview with CNN Philippines, Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella said he immediately ordered the city attorney to look into the incident.
“We don’t want to offend the sensibilities of the faithful but... we should not have mass gathering,” Labella said.
“Initial report reveals that the barangay does not know about this,” he added.
The mayor said he would instruct the city attorney to coordinate with the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in investigating the event. — Kristine Joy Patag with reports from The FREEMAN
Cebu City is on enhanced community quarantine until June 30 at the earliest as the government focuses on a rise in COVID-19 cases there and in Talisay City, which is under modified enhanced community quarantine.
Quarantine passes in Cebu City have been revoked to keep people in their homes.
Photo: Situation in Barangay Pasil, Cebu City on June 24, 2020 as police check the movement of residents after ECQ passes were cancelled the night before. The Freeman/Aldo Banaynal
The total of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines rises to 2,622,917 with 9,868 new cases reported on Wednesday.
- Recoveries: 133 new; 2,471,282 total
- Deaths: 38,828 total
- Active cases: 112,807 or 4.3% of total
Ngayong 4 PM, Oktubre 6, 2021, ang Department of Health ay nakapagtala ng 9,868 na karagdagang kaso ng COVID-19. Samantala ay mayroon namang naitalang 133 na gumaling at 0 na pumanaw. pic.twitter.com/CFHm13fThi
— Department of Health (@DOHgovph) October 6, 2021
Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force on COVID-19, says there is weak contact tracing in Cebu City.
COVID-19 national policy chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. says there is weak contact tracing in Cebu City @PhilippineStar @PhilstarNews
— Alexis B. Romero (@alexisbromero) July 2, 2020
It is difficult to observe safe distancing in some areas in Cebu City that are densely populated, he adds.
Cebu City will remain under an enhanced community quarantine, Health Secretary Franciso Duque III announces.
Filipino Nurses United calls for the mass hiring of nurses — with adequate salaries, benefits, and protection — as health workers in Cebu grapple with a high number of COVID-19 cases there.
"Time is of the essence! Immediate mass hiring of nurses with minimum entry salary of P32,000, just benefits including hazard pay, adequate personal protective equipment, and safe nurse to patient workload are critical solutions to augment the severe understaffing of nurses who will help save lives against COVID-19," it says in a statement.
It says it had been making that call since March "but sadly, the Department of Health (DOH) responded with a call for volunteer health warriors with an allowance of P500 a day."
The sudden lockdown of Cebu City, with quarantine passes cancelled the night before implementation, was a move that was insensitive to the plight of city residents, Movement Against Tyranny - Cebu says in a statement.
The group says "the people could have been warned earlier and relief goods and funds could have been provided earlier to support the struggling poor families. Instead, the government, through its military and police, has prepared to arrest 'violators'."
The group also rejects the government's putting the blame for the rise in cases on Cebuanos being stubborn, saying "what truly causes the greater problem is the slow and lacking response from the government."
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