Buhisan residents ignore social distancing over relief goods
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The residents of a sitio in Barangay Buhisan failed to follow social distancing during the distribution of relief goods in the area.
Around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, the barangay announced the distribution of the promised sacks of rice from the City Hall to be distributed at the Buhisan Barangay Hall.
In a statement, Buhisan Barangay Captain Gremar Barete said they scheduled five sitios that afternoon for distribution.
This was the first distribution since the controversial Mayor’s Information and Liaison Office (MILO) finally agreed to collaborate with the barangay in the distribution of rice and other relief goods.
“Regarding sa issue ganina sa video social distancing, mangayo ko ug dispinsa sa hitabo. Karong adlawa 5 sitios amo gi schedule for distribution pero naay concern sa usa ka sitio, ang Sitio Poso nga naay sakop nga almost 500 families,” he said in a statement.
(Regarding the issue of viral video on social distancing, I seek apology for the incident. We scheduled five sitios for distribution today but one sitio, Sitio Poso had concerns. They had 500 families.)
The village chief was about to deliver 450 packs of rice and 300 canned goods when he arrived at the jampacked barangay hall.
“Pero pag abot nako mao nalay akong naabtan nga ang walay labot taga laing sitio niapil ug tapok. Dili patoo sa mga volunteers og sa tanod mao to nga nagpa assist me ug police, ug ako sad gibantayan nga para ma maintain ang social distancing,” said the village chief.
(When I arrived, I found that residents from other sitios came for the distribution. They would not heed the tanods or volunteers so we asked the help of the police. I also helped guard to maintain social distancing.)
Barete said he immediately ordered the tanods to control the crowd, but attempts were futile as the people continue to swamp the barangay hall.
It was then that they sought the help of the police and restored order to the area.
A resident from Buhisan told CDN Digital that the sitio was among the biggest areas in the barangay.
When the incident happened, word of mouth about the distribution spread easily among the neighbors including other sitios causing people to flock the barangay hall.
The resident, who asked not to be identified, said the people only wanted to get their share and ignored the tanods. They only began to behave when the police came.
She also said senior citizens were among those who lined up despite the city government’s order disallowing senior citizens to go out of their homes amidst the spread of the Coronavirus.
Barete said the incident was eventually controlled and the succeeding distributions were already calm and orderly. /rcg
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