SUMMARY
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The Aurora provincial police confirmed on Monday, March 15, social media posts that showed police retirees visiting the town of Baler using motorbikes on Saturday, March 13, amid surging cases of COVID-19 infections in the country.
In a phone interview with Rappler, acting director Police Colonel Julio Lizardo of Aurora police said that police veterans from Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1987 – batchmates of current Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Debold Sinas who tested positive for COVID-19 – visited Baler during the weekend.
“Oo, pumunta. 25 lang naman ‘yon,” he said. (Yes, they visited. They were just 25 individuals.)
In a viral video with the caption, “Motorcycle long ride of the Philippine Military Academy class of ’87,” police retirees were seen traveling in the province. The video has since been deleted.
In separate Facebook posts, the Dipaculao police in Aurora and the San Leonardo police in Nueva Ecija showed photos of their respective policemen assisting the police retirees during the “motorcycle long ride” activity.
‘No violation’
Lizardo insisted that the police veterans did not violate any rule.
“Walang violation. Since alas dose, kumain lang sila tapos umalis lang (No violation. Since 12 noon, they just ate and left immediately),” said Lizardo.
In a text message, PNP spokesman Brigadier General Ildebrandi Usana said the group did not consist entirely of PMA alumni but also included civilians who had just stopped over for lunch.
“They are mostly civilians, to include military/police retirees, belonging to a wandering group of motorbike enthusiasts that go from one place to another. They included Baler as one of the places in their provincial journey. They ate their lunch there but left immediately for Nueva Ecija,” Usana said.
Usana added that the police veterans had undergone swab tests prior to the activity.
“They had themselves undergone swab tests for any anticipation of being asked by some locals, even if the government has generally eased restrictions in movement of peoples, goods, and services,” the PNP spokesman said.
Why this matters
Initially, under Executive Order (EO) No. 2020-0010 of the provincial government of Aurora, tourists are banned from entering and visiting the province. The province’s latest EO No. 2021-0002 now allows tourists but requires online travel application.
However, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday that the government’s coronavirus task force will tackle the possibility of implementing stricter quarantine measures if coronavirus cases continued to increase.
In a report on Friday, March 12, the OCTA Research team said COVID-19 confirmed cases in the National Capital Region could spike to more than 4,000 cases daily by the end of March.
As of Sunday, March 14, the PNP had recorded a total of 12,240 COVID-19 cases among policemen, with 33 deaths and 890 active cases. — Rappler.com
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