Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) deputy director for operations, says they are ready to rescue Badjao protocol violators in the city’s streets. | CDN file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City police will be focusing their efforts in rescuing Badjao folks, who will violate the caroling ban and health protocols in Cebu City’s streets.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said that the Badjao community was not an exemption to the issued executive order in Cebu City, particularly in the conduct of caroling with the start of the Christmas season in the country.
Parilla said that they would start giving warnings to violators on September 11 especially the Badjao folks, who were mostly seen in city’s streets begging for alms, caroling and not wearing any face masks.
He said in the succeeding days after September 11, they would start their rescue operations against the Badjao health protocol violators.
He said the police officers of the CCPO’s Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) were already coordinating with Cebu City’s Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) for possible holding facilities of these Badjao violators.
He said that they needed the holding facilities and plans on how to handle the Badjao violators – like what the penalties would be imposed and what would happen after they that would they be sent back to their homes in the streets?
The WCPD of the Cebu City Police Office are trying to address this problem with the DSWS.
Parilla assured that they would continue with their road clearing operations and make sure that Badjaos would no longer loiter and flock to Cebu City’s streets.
He said that he had already instructed the 11 police station commanders to monitor their respective areas on Badjao violators.
“Ato gyud nang gibadlong kay that is very dangerous, kay mag suroy-suroy ni sila, so posible nga silay gapositive silay manakod or silay matakdan sa ilang pag suroy-suroy,” Parilla said.
(We are warning them not to do that because that is very dangerous, and because if they loiter, it is possible that they will be the one positive for COVID-19 and will infect others or they will be the one to get infected as they loiter around.)
Parilla again reminded the public that caroling activities in Cebu City were prohibited because this would be considered as a social gathering activity; and thus, a violation of the minimum health protocols in the city.
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