BACOLOD City – The Inter-Agency Task Force in this city is warning the public against persons sending out fake lockdown advisories amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis.
A household in City Heights Subdivision was sealed off on Sept. 18 for purportedly having a COVID-19 positive family member.
According to Lady Gles Pallen, Liga ng mga barangay president, the “shocked and distressed” family claimed that none of them even had close contact with a COVID-19 positive person nor they have been included in contact tracing.
The house was cordoned with a yellow line and labeled with a tarpaulin bearing an “under quarantine” notice, and an unsigned letter.
The Liga ng mga Barangay launched an investigation to ascertain the person responsible for the act.
According to Pallen, the unsigned letter was fake and it mentioned about “federal” policy “which obviously was just copied from some online article”.
The letter also bore the Bacolod City seal and the Abanse Negrense logo.
Meanwhile, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, head of the city IATF, said these “unscrupulous person/s who, in the midst of a pandemic, have the guts to carry out such despicable acts of deceit are causing undue stress and anxiety to unsuspecting victims”.
Familiaran said the person responsible would be facing charges for violation of Republic Act 11332, or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
Meanwhile, City Administrator Em Ang, executive director of the Emergency Operations Center here, said these individuals were “taking ‘prank’ to a new level of viciousness.”
“At a time when we are facing a serious public health crisis, it is unacceptable that some people use this for their own entertainment or worse, some sick perversion,” Ang said.
She encouraged every Bacolodnon to “cooperate in our fight to stop COVID-19 further affecting our city, and refrain from causing more panic and confusion.”
In case of similar incidents, Ang advised the public to immediately inform the EOC hotline thru telephone no. 432-3879 or report it to the nearest police station./PN
