By Deighton Acuin

PHOTO: Manila Bulletin

The Chief of Philippine National Police General Debold Sinas should be held responsible due to his “reckless behavior” after skipping screening protocols while being positive for coronavirus, the mayor of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro said Saturday.

In his Facebook post, Mayor Arnan Panaligan said Sinas failed to abide by required screening protocols for anyone traveling to provinces.

The mayor’s office announced the city’s coronavirus situation on Facebook, and it was the post netizen Mark Manato who asked him about Sinas in the comments section.

Calapan City has 13 active cases with the new infection involving a 58-year-old male from Barangay Sto. Nino, according to Panaligan.

“He should be made to answer and be held responsible for his reckless behavior,” wrote Panaligan.

“He was tested before he flew here. It is SOP (standard operating procedure) that when one is tested, he must first go on quarantine and wait for the result. He failed to do that. When he came here, he did not tell us that he was waiting for the test result. Thus he was allowed entry,” he added.

Panaligan also said that the superiors from Malacañang and the Department of Interior and Local Government should reprimand Sinas.

“His superiors at DILG and Malacañang must take action against him,” he said.

Sinas, who already threw a poorly-reasoned party at the start of the lockdown, did not pass through the Oriental Mindoro pier in Calapan where health clearances are issued and instead arrived by helicopter before proceeding to the PNP Regional Headquarters.

This was not the first time Sinas violated COVID-19 health protocols. 

In May last year, the PNP chief together with 18 police officers were charged for having Mañanita amid imposition of Metro Manila under the government’s stringent quarantine measure, the Enhanced Community Quarantine. This violation also sparked criticisms due to “double standards” among law enforcers implementing safety guidelines.


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