BACOLOD CITY – Stricter maritime border
control measures are being enforced in this province as people from neighboring
islands have been monitored to sneak in while the enhanced community quarantine
(ECQ) against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is in effect.
Personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Negros Occidental monitored
the presence of two persons from Ajuy, Iloilo who arrived in Manapla town on
April 20.
Lieutenant Commander Jansen Benjamin, chief of PCG-Negros Occidental said on April 21 that the entry of the two persons was recorded as a maritime border violation based on the information they received from the barangay.
According to Benjamin, the mother and son went to Ajuy before the ECQ. They were later picked up by the father and were brought home to Manapla.
The family was placed under mandatory home quarantine after their Barangay Health Emergency Response Team confirmed that they have just arrived.
“As instructed by our Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, all coastline communities have to be alert. The barangay officials and the Bantay Dagay should also be vigilant,” Benjamin said.
“The PCG-Negros Occidental is intensifying security measures and trying its best to secure our maritime borders,” he added.
Stations under the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO), meanwhile, have also stepped up border control activities.
NOCCPO director, Colonel Romeo Baleros, said that he directed all chiefs of police to intercept vehicles illegally transporting people into the province.
“Vehicles, motorboats, and bancas will be impounded pending investigation,” he added.
As part of the quarantine measures, the NOCPPO has set up 14 border control points in the cities of San Carlos, Talisay, Bago and Kabankalan and in the towns of Murcia, La Castellana, Isabela and Hinoba-an.
There are also 87 quarantine control points across this province.
Earlier, Bacolod City lone district representative Greg Gasataya also called for consistent strict control measures on the city and the province’s borders, including the shoreline villages, to prevent the illegal entry of persons using private motorized bancas or fishing boats.
There should also be a strict inspection of possible illegal entry of people inside cargo trucks in seaports, he added.
“Please, let us all help monitor our borders. If you receive any information, text it to your respective barangay officials and local authorities,” Gasataya appealed. (With a report from PNA/PN)
