5 arrested for ignoring Bohol’s no-sail policy vs COVID-19

TAGBILARAN CITY—Police have arrested at least five persons who allegedly violated Bohol’s no-sail policy by sneaking into the province.

Authorities identified two of those arrested last Friday (May 1) as siblings Jonalie Nioda-Bautista, 33, and John Virgil Nioda, 30, residents of the village of Fatima, Inabanga town, Bohol.

On the same day, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) arrested a Korean and two boat men for allegedly trying to get into Panglao Island, a popular tourist destination in Bohol, from Surigao City.

The three docked on the coast of Doljo village but had no permit to sail.

The siblings, Korean and two boat men were brought to quarantine facilities.

Police said the Nioda siblings left the village of Labangon, Cebu City past 11 a.m. on May 1.

Bautista was project manager of a retail store in Cebu while Nioda was security guard also in Cebu.

Capt. Fermin Donque Jr. said the siblings hired a pump boat in the town of Cordova on Mactan Island, Cebu province to get to Inabanga town.

The two arrived at the village of Fatima past 11 p.m. on May and and proceeded to the house of their mother, a village councilor.

Police and health authorities traced the siblings when they received reports about their arrival.

The two siblings were brought to the village isolation unit for quarantine.

Police have filed complaints against the siblings for violating the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act and disobedience to authorities.

Edited by TSB