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CEBU, Philippines – The Lapu-Lapu City Council is set to pass the “Be a Responsible Warrior/Texter” Ordinance to allow citizens to report quarantine violators in real time.
On Thursday, July 9, the Lapu-Lapu City Public Information Office (PIO) announced the city’s plan to officially “enlist” citizens to be active watchers of their community.
The ordinance was also announced earlier by Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan in a press conference last Tuesday, July 7.
“A COVID warrior is armed with a cellphone and will report violators of health protocols to the PNP through text,” the Lapu-Lapu City PIO said.
The citizen/texter must report those without a facemask, wandering senior citizens, those without quarantine passes, and other related violations.
Texters must specify where and when the incidents happened.
Under the ordinance, erring citizens will be penalized while the texters and the barangay will receive a share of the penalties collected.
“If the claims are false, the texter creates a violation, which we will penalize them for,” Chan clarified.
He said penalizing and rewarding citizens are not the sole objectives of the ordinance.
“We all need to show concern with our current situation in the city, and wearing of face masks is most important to prevent ourselves from infecting each other,” he stressed.
Currently, the Lapu-Lapu City Hospital faces harsh conditions, with patients crammed inside as the number of COVID patients increases. (READ: Central Visayas’ critical care capacity in ‘warning zone,’ says DOH)
Chan announced that the city will be hiring additional nurses and doctors to attend to the growing number of COVID cases.
The mayor assured the public that in two weeks’ time, the Hoops Dome Arena in Lapu-Lapu City will be transformed into an isolation facility for mild symptomatic COVID patients.
He said this will be made possible through the help of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) and the DPWH.
Eventually, those with mild symptomatic cases housed in the isolation facility in Lapu-Lapu City College will be transferred to the Hoops Dome.
As of Thursday, July 9, the Department of Health (DOH) has reported 1,395 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of cases in the Philippines to 51,754, with 1,314 deaths and 12,813 recoveries. – Rappler.com
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