PC Hills ‘residents’ not ‘padlocked’ just ‘regulated’ — PRO-7 chief

Police Brigadier General Ronnie S Montejo, Police Regional Office-7 (PRO-7) director.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 Chief Ronnie Montejo clarified the allegations on ‘padlocking’ of gates of some of the buildings in the PNP compound in PC Hills in Barangay Apas, Cebu City, saying that they were only regulating the entry after reports reached them that non-residents had entered the compound.

Montejo said in a conference call with reporters on April 5  that the entry of these “standbys” hampered the implementation of the health protocols.

This has been the statement of Montejo following the post of Ramil Ayuman, head of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and former Barangay Captain of Apas earlier today, around noon.

In a Facebook post, Ayuman accused the PRO-7 of padlocking the first, second, and third buildings of the PC Hills Apartment.

“Asa na man ang kasingkasing sa Police Regional Office 7. Kaning inyong gi padlock karong buntag diha sa 1st, 2nd ug 3rd building sa PC hills Apartment Barangay Apas. Si Nong Jun Lofranco, dugay nahimong driver escort sa mga PNP officials. Gikan intawon nagpacheck up kinahanglan pa mokatkat sa inyong gipapadlock nga gate,” Ayuman’s post read.

(Where is your heart Police Regional Office 7. This act of padlocking this morning of the gate of the building of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd building in PC Hills Apartment in Barangay Apas. Nong Jun Lofranco has long been a driver escort of the PNP officials. He had to climb over the gate, which was padlocked, to go have a scheduled medical checkup.)

“Naa pay mga silingan nato nga retirees sila George Buranday, magtiayong Bauzon ug uban pang mga nagmasakiton retirees. Wa man ninyo gitan aw ang atong pandemic diin niini na stress sa COVID. Inyo na man hinoon gidungagan ang problema,” his post further read.

(We have neighbor retirees there — George Buranday, Bauzon couple, and many other retirees. You di not consider the pandemic and the stress it has brought to these retirees. You have even added to their problems.)

For his part, Montejo clarified that they didn’t ‘padlock’ the residents but rather ‘regulated’ the entry of the non-residents.

He further said that authorized individuals in the area were given stickers, which would allow them to enter the compound.

“Daghan man gud kaayo ang mag standby lang diha and dili na kaayo masunod ang mga safety health protocols unya ang sa security measures pod wala na makaila og si kinsa sila,”

(There are many “standbys” [ or people who stay in the area to pass the time away] there and safety and health protocols are not being followed, and also on the security measures, we do not know who these people are.)

Since they received reports that there are people who pass away their time in the area, he said that as per the ground commander, they came up with this sticker method that was announced last Saturday, April 3.

Montejo said that this method would be for the strict implementation of the health protocols.

He added that those who would be entering the premises would have to get and present a sticker issued from the PRO-7.

“Kung kinsay naay sticker, naay vehicle nga authorized musulod, sila ra musulod,” he said.

(Those who have stickers, their vehicles can enter the compound. They are the only ones who can enter.)

READ: Ferro extends length of stay of settlers in PC Hills

To recall, former PRO-7 chief, Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro  extended the stay of the ‘informal settlers’ inside the compound to three months.

Ferro also said that these residents received the letter to vacate last May 18, 2020, and were given a 30-day ultimatum to leave the area.

However, he said that these settlers were illegally staying in this government-owned property intended as homes for those active police personnel.

According to Ferro, instead of a 30-day ultimatum indicated in the notice letter given out to them, he would give these settlers three months to leave the property.

Ferro said that some of these people living in PC Hills were using the premises as part of their businesses, using the structures as boarding houses or a house for rent.

/dbs and bmjo