Panglao mayor probed for alleged failure to undergo quarantine

TAGBILARAN CITY –– A town mayor in Bohol is facing an investigation for allegedly failing to undergo quarantine after she arrived in the province.

In a statement, Gov. Arthur Yap said he had tasked Colonel Joselito Clarito, director of the Bohol Provincial Police Office, to make the findings.

Clarito is the head of the Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (BIATF-EID) – Security Cluster.

Yap didn’t name the mayor who allegedly went to Marina Bay Seaview in Cebu last week to attend a conference with a high-ranking official in the Philippine National Police.

In local radio interviews, Panglao Mayor Leonila Paredes-Montero admitted that she was the one referred to by Yap.

Montero clarified that she and her companions underwent quarantine upon arrival in Panglao.

“I am not guilty. I voluntarily isolated myself upon arrival,” she said.

Montero said she was quarantined in a place prepared by the municipal health office.

“I love myself. I have my children, the people of Panglao. I know what I am doing,” she said.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) in Central Visayas earlier clarified that local chief executives and government employees on official travel are exempted from the 14-day quarantine.

The directive said subjecting local chief executives and government employees to a 14-day quarantine would delay the delivery of essential governmental work/services.

Netizens took to social media their sentiments after the mayor allegedly violated safety protocols.

Panglao town, a famous tourist destination, has no recorded COVID-19 case.

ZB