"Pulling the trigger was a judgment call on the part of the Quezon City cop."
"Pulling the trigger was a judgment call on the part of the Quezon City cop."
President Rodrigo Duterte would have already declared another extension of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Luzon by the time this column sees print. We, a nation of 102 million Filipinos, are simply not ready for the “new normal.”
I have full trust and confidence in the President’s wisdom that the guidelines or implementing rules of a continued lockdown through the month of May would be more balanced and fair to all in terms of restricting people’s movement against resuscitating the economy.
In making its recommendation to the President, the major factors that have been considered by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for emerging infectious diseases must include what appears a slowdown in the doubling of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 and the increased capacity of the government’s testing centers.
Although it’s too premature to conclude a flattening of the epidemiological curve according to Department of Health authorities, this is a welcome development to appease fears that the escalating COVID-19 cases would eventually overwhelm the inadequate healthcare system.
The anticipated announcement of an ECQ extension also comes on the heels of unfortunate incidents that dramatize the social, economic and security conflicts, the other main considerations in either lifting or continuing the lockdown.
Following a confrontation at a checkpoint, a Quezon City policeman shot to death a mentally deranged man who turned out to be a former Philippine Army corporal with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The cop allegedly appeared to be pulling a gun from his sling bag, although witnesses claimed the ex-soldier was unarmed. Police later reportedly said a .38 caliber revolver was found in the man's sling bag.
It was a judgment call on the part of P/MSgt Daniel Florendo who did what he was trained to do, according to Philippine National Police deputy chief for operations P/Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar.
Although the case is pending investigation, Eleazar pointed out that Florendo repeatedly gave verbal warnings to the fatality Winston Ragos, 34, who suddenly turned while pulling an object inside his sling bag, prompting the policeman to shoot him twice.
Ragos hurled his sling bag over the steel fence and stood motionless before collapsing on the ground, as shown on the viral video.
PNP spokesperson P/Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac echoed Eleazar’s statement that it was indeed Florendo’s judgment call and that it was an instinctive reaction in the face of danger.
“Had he erred in his judgment, he could be the cadaver in the body bag instead,” Banac said.
In other words, it’s a “do or die” situation that our PNP frontliners face out there at any given point in time.
At least two policemen have died from COVID-19. There have been 14 confirmed cases of infection.
Meanwhile, the PNP said nearly 150,000 violators of the Bayanihan To Heal As One Law provisions on ECQ have been apprehended.
PNP Chief General Archie Gamboa also said there will no longer be warning issue. Instead, ECQ violators will be charged accordingly for resistance and disobedience to a person in authority.
In this connection, the Department of the Interior and Local Government gave at least 29 barangay chairmen 48 hours to explain why they have failed to strictly enforce the ECQ rules as directed by the IATF.
In Matina, Davao City, people who gathered for a cockfight are being blamed for the transmission of COVID-19, resulting in at least six of nine deaths in the city.
Violation of the social distancing rule is also being blamed for the COVID-19 epidemic in Sitio Zapatera, Cebu City.
As we pointed out repeatedly, the role of the barangay officials, as well as the local government unit executives, cannot be overemphasized.
It occurred to me that if these barangay captains are too negligent or too incompetent to enforce the ECQ rules in their respective communities, how can they be entrusted with a million pesos or hundreds of thousands of pesos cash in Social Amelioration Program assistance to distribute to their constituents?