B/Gen. De Jesus is new police director; B/Gen.Balba now head of SAF
TACLOBAN CITY- Brigadier Gen. Ronaldo De Jesus is the new police director of the region, replacing B/Gen. Bernabe Balba.
De Jesus, prior to his new assignment, was assigned in Eastern Mindanao of the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s directorate for integrated police operations.
He formally assumed to his new post last Sept 14 in a simple turn-over ceremony.
Balba, who headed the police office in the region beginning on March 19 of this year, was appointed as the new head of the elite Philippine National Police-Special Action Force.
De Jesus, a member of the PNP Academy Tagapagbuklod Class of 1989, was previously assigned to the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Eastern Mindanao.
Meanwhile, Balba expressed his gratitude to the police force and the public for their support since he assumed his post for just over seven months, one of the shortest terms of a PNP police director of the region.
“Before I came, there were a lot of questions that I myself answered it and conquered it with flying colors. It is because of your relentless hard work, support, dedication and resiliency that we were able to move forward and continually facing and fighting the havoc of this pandemic,” said Balba in his farewell speech.
“It has been 174 fruitful days of my life with the people whom I consider as the epitome of real warriors. I came here with confidence that my fellow kababayans will never settle for mediocrity, hence, exceeded my expectations,” he added.
During his stint, Balba pushed for a leadership style based on the three basic Filipino values of “Malinis, Magalang at Maasahan” as a guide for effective police service. (RONALD O. REYES)
NIATF to act request ban on return of LSIs
Thousands of LSIs have been tested positive of COVID-19
(ORMOC LGU)
TACLOBAN CITY – The resolution calling for the moratorium on the return of locally stranded individuals (LSIs)to the region is expected to be tackled by the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF).
This was declared by Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya during a television interview aired over government-controlled PTV-4 on Monday(Sept.21).
Malaya was referring to a joint resolution approved both by the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID)and the Regional Task Force (RTF) on COVID-19 to temporary ban the return of the LSIs amid the ballooning COVID-19 cases of the region.
Last week, for example, the regional office of the Department of Health disclosed that about 1,551 LSIs have so far acquired the dreaded virus.
“The request of the local chief executives is now with the IATF sub-task group on locally stranded individuals and this will be forwarded to the NIATF and the decision will be announced by the chairman either by Health Sec. Francisco Duque III or Cabinet Sec. Karlo Nograles,” Malaya said.
Last August 25, the two regional bodies passed a resolution calling for the moratorium on the return of the LSIs to the region for the entire month of September.
“Once a decision is made, this will be announced immediately but most of the time they do grant requests from the LGUs,” Malaya said.
While the NAITF has yet to act on the call to ban temporarily the return of LSIs, there are local government units in the region which refuses to accept LSIs like the province of Samar.
Prior to the request last month of the RIATF and RTF, return of the LSIs to the region was suspended last June 28 for 14 days after cases of COVID-19 increased due to arrival of stranded individuals.
“Please be assured that the IATF is listening and considering all of the request of various RIATF including that of Region 8,” Malaya said. (ROEL AMAZONA)
Mayor Alfred pushes QR codes for all HUCs
TACLOBAN CITY – The suggestion of City Mayor Alfred Romualdez for highly-urbanized cities (HUCs) in the country to implement QR code system was considered favorably by an official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to help address the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Romualdez made the suggestion during a virtual Networking Briefing program of Presidential Communication and Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar who had Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya as guest.
“Sana gawing mandatory sa lahat ng HUCs na magkaroon ng QR code because you can monitor the movements of the people” Romualdez said to Usec. Malaya.
“I don’t want to make it difficult for the public but we have to address the issue immediately and make it effective,” Romualdez said.
Replying to the proposal of the city mayor, USec. Malaya said that they will closely study his proposal.
“We will study your proposal closely. I will talk to our regional directors to take a look at this and find a different system for HUCs,” Malaya said.
Malaya added that he will also inform the Inter-Agency Task Force of this suggestion of Mayor Romualdez.
The city government has enforced its own QR Code dubbed as surveillance, contact tracing, analysis, and networking (SCAN) system starting on July 16.
SCAN is a digital platform for COVID-19 surveillance activities for the systematic collection, analysis, storage, and dissemination of information, specifically the name, address, and contact details of the registrant so that public health officers can use the same for immediate responses.
Those who want to enter Tacloban must register online through its Safe City application that can be downloaded for free at https://safecity.tacloban.gov.
The registrants are given unique SCAN cards or QR codes that can be scanned as identification before entry at every participating office, establishment, or industry.
Since implementation, all establishments in Tacloban including churches had imposed a “no entry” policy for those who do not have a QR code.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)