CCPO chief calls meeting with pastoral guards to discuss church security under GCQ

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), is set to meet the pastoral guards this Saturday afternoon, August 8, 2020, to discuss protocols that will be observed with the resumption of Masses and other church activities under the general community quarantine (GCQ).

In an interview with reporters, Ligan said that among the things that will be discussed during their meeting, is the need to strictly implement social distancing, the wearing of face masks, and the need to limit the crowd inside churches.

Ligan said that monitoring compliance with health protocols and the conduct of manual headcount of churchgoers will be added to the responsibilities of pastoral guards.

He said that pastoral guards on duty are tasked to make sure that only 10 percent of the venue’s capacity will be filled during Masses as mandated by the Inter-Agency Tasked Force (IATF).

After their scheduled meeting, Ligan said that he will also be going around the city to personally check on the individual capacity of churches in order to help pastoral guards determine the volume of churchgoers that will be allowed inside.

“Para mao nay atung tan-awon. (That is what we will look into.) For example, in Sto. Niño the capacity is one thousand. Ten percent of that is only one hundred so that’s the people that can go inside the church,” said Ligan.

He said that policemen will also be deployed at the church gates to help the pastoral guards in ensuring a smooth flow of churchgoers and in doing the headcount. / dcb