ILOILO City – Three more police officers of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Also, the regional police command recorded its first police casualty to the disease – a police officer under the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).
One of the three new COVID cases was assigned at the PRO-6’s regional headquarters while the two others were with the ICPO, according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson.
As for the police COVID casualty, he was Police Executive Master Sergeant Angelito T. Parreño. He died at the Calamba Medical Center in Laguna province while schooling for career advancement.
Regarding the three COVID-positive cases confirmed yesterday, the one assigned at the regional headquarters was a resident of Anilao, Iloilo and was referred to his local government unit’s quarantine facility.
Contact tracing was launched by the PRO-6’s Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division, said Malong.
The two other cops with the ICPO had the rank of Police Staff Sergeant and Police Lieutenant Colonel.
Manifesting COVID-19 symptoms, they were taken to a private hospital, according to Police Captain Shella Mae Sangrines, ICPO spokesperson.
Regarding Police Executive Master Sergeant Parreño, the city government confirmed that he succumbed to COVID-19 and other medical complications at 5:08 a.m. on Aug. 19.
Parreño had been in Laguna since July for schooling. On Aug. 6, he complained of breathing difficulty, one of the symptoms of COVID.
Sources told Panay News that in his class, 16 of them contracted COVID while on training, part of which was to serve as frontliners in Laguna.
Meanwhile, the police station of the municipality of Miag-ao, Iloilo is on lockdown. A policeman tested positive for COVID-19.
The lockdown started on Aug. 16. The town’s police force is quarantining inside the police station for 14 days.
Twenty-five policemen from the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) are temporarily serving as Miag-ao’s police force. They are holding office at the municipal gymnasium.
“To avoid the spread of the virus, we closed the police station and all personnel with direct contact to the COVID-positive policeman are undergoing quarantine. They will be tested again soon,” said Police Colonel Paul Kenneth Lucas, IPPO director.
The COVID-positive policeman, on the other hand, is being isolated at the town’s quarantine facility. He is asymptomatic.
Just this Aug. 12, a Police Patrolman of the police station of Igbaras town tested positive for COVID-19 but not showing symptoms of the disease such as fever and cough. This led to the quarantine of his colleagues.
The Igbaras police station was also locked down.
Meanwhile, Lucas announced that 50 IPPO personnel tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
On Aug. 19, another 63 IPPO personnel underwent COVID testing. The test results were yet to be released.
As ordered by the Philippine National Police national headquarters, policemen who test negative for COVID-19 can resume their regular duty immediately after the release of the result.
“We cannot wait for the end of 14 days quarantine for our personnel to resume their duty. Otherwise, our stations will be depleted,” said Lucas.
On Monday, Aug. 17, Malong confirmed that two police officers assigned at the PRO-6’s Regional Comptrollership Division and Regional Community Affairs and Development Division, plus a non-uniformed (civilian) personnel tested positive for COVID-19.
The civilian personnel was assigned at the office of Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan.
Pamuspusan and all personnel in his office, the Regional Comptrollership Division and Regional Community Affairs and Development Division, underwent tests on Aug. 18. The results were yet to be released./PN
