ILOILO – Mayor Jaime Esmeralda of Igbaras summoned to his office 17 violators of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in his town and discovered that two of them were minors.
“They would be reprimanded but not penalized. We don’t have provisions in our executive order that penalize these violators. But we will monitor them so they will not repeat what they did,” he said.
The quarantine violators were all from Tigbanaba village. It took them at least an hour to reach Mt. Napulak, a popular mountain hiking site.
Esmeralda said the violators rode motorcycles to reach the mountain.
They asked permission from a village councilor Thursday last week to bring farm fertilizer “but they had other reasons for the hike,” said Esmeralda.
The ECQ is being imposed to restrict the movement of people. Everyone is in fact required to stay home unless it is very necessary to go out. The goal is to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019.
The violators got the ire of netizens. Esmeralda sought to stop the hate comments online against these 17 individuals.
“I am concerned because they posted photos online (Facebook) and they were bashed. Some of them were minors. I’m afraid the hate comments would adversely affect them,” he said.
The local government unit turned over the two minors to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for proper custody.
Those who were of legal age, meanwhile, were turned over to the Igbaras police station.
Esmeralda, medical doctor, appealed to the public to stop the hate comments at these could cause psychological harm.
Even those of legal age could be negatively affected by the hate comments, he added. (PNA)