ILOLO – The municipality of Pavia has the most number of quarantine curfew violators in the province – 144 as of April 12, according to Police Colonel Paul Lucas, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO).
“I’m so worried…To the people of Pavia, please be cooperative. We are doing this to help your town get cleared of the coronavirus,” said Lucas.
Pavia has two confirmed case of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – a 50-year-old male (Region 6’s Patient No. 37) and his 52-year-old wife (the region’s Patient No. 38).
Lucas said the police of Pavia could tap the help of village watchmen (barangay tanod) to enforce the quarantine curfew from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.
“Ang lawak ng town ngunit kaunti lang mga pulis natin,” he added.
Pavia, composed of 18 barangays, is the smallest municipality in Iloilo province in terms of land area – covering only 2,715 hectares.
“We need to help one another to contain COVID-19. We need the cooperation of everybody,” said Lucas.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is reportedly deploying more Philippine Army soldiers to Pavia to also help enforce the curfew.
Army Captain Cenon Pancito III, spokesperson of the 3rd Infantry Division, said they were just waiting for instructions from the Inter–Agency Task Forcefor the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“We have enough soldiers,” said Pancito.
Region-wide, between March 17 to April 11 police units across Western Visayas were able to apprehend 4,448 persons for violating quarantine curfews being imposed by various local government units.
Of these violators, 49 were recidivists who were eventually charged in court, data from the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) showed.
Bacolod City had the highest number of violators at 1,732 followed by Negros Occidental (1,123) and Iloilo City (1,043).
“Everyday people are being arrested for loitering outside their residences and not observing social distancing,” said PRO-6 spokesperson Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong.
She warned, “Indi naton ma-solve ang virus outbreak if hard-headed persons will continue to violate quarantine rules.”/PN
