DILG: Barangays must coordinate with police before setting up checkpoints

MANILA, Philippines — Barangays must coordinate with the police before they set up checkpoints in their localities during the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and nearby provinces to avoid confusion among the public, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Monday.

DILG spokesman Jonathan Malaya said there are currently 728 authorized barangay checkpoints in the “NCR Plus” bubble.

“Gusto ko lang manawagan sa ating mga barangay, huwag po silang magtatalaga ng checkpoint sa kanilang lugar kung walang pahintulot ng mula sa pulis,” he said in a Laging Handa public briefing.

(I would like to call on barangays not to set up checkpoints without the permission of the police.)

“Ayaw na maulit yung nangyari sa nakaraang taon kung saan may sariling pamantayan na ini-implement ang barangay na hindi naman consistent sa pulisiya ng national government,” he added.

(We don’t want a repeat of last year where barangays had their own policies which are not consistent with the national government’s.)

Barangay checkpoints must be coordinated with the nearest police station in their locality, he said.

In the implementation of ECQ across Metro Manila and Region 3 and 4A, the government has set up a total of 1,106 checkpoints or “quarantine control points” with 9,356 police deployed.

Of the number, 929 are in Metro Manila with 7,876 policemen deployed.

Region 3 has 162 checkpoints with 982 policemen while Region 4A has 50 checkpoints with 491 cops.

A total of 693 cops are also deployed in populous areas such as public markets as “social distancing patrollers” to monitor the compliance in physical distancing.

Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna were placed under ECQ starting Monday until April 4 due to the surge of COVID-19 cases.

JE