Public warned: Don’t mock government contact tracing efforts

CEBU, Philippines —  The Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 has warned the public that the police are going after the people mocking the government’s contact tracing efforts.

This came following reports that some people haven't taken seriously in filling out the forms of the establishments for contact tracing purposes.

PRO-7 director, Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, has warned that non-cooperation in the government's efforts against COVID-19 is punishable under Section 9 of Republic Act No. 11332.

The Act is also known as the "Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act".

"It's embedded in the Republic Act No. 11332, Section 9, the non-cooperation and if you are filling up a public document you are giving false statement, that is punishable by law especially if you are endangering the life of other people," said Ferro in an interview with reporters yesterday.

Commercial establishments in Cebu City are requiring customers or visitors to fill out contact tracing form upon entering.

City Councilor Joel Garganera has released photos of contact tracing forms from a commercial establishment that were not properly filled out.

One of the forms showed a mall-goer listing “optimus prime” as his name and “planet cybertron” as his address.

"We will just have to check it out, but let me assure sa atong mga kaigsuonan diri sa Sugbo that those who are making a mockery of our effort, they be may accordingly by the law, we will be conducting an investigation, and we will assure that your police are not sleeping and we will remain vigilant," said Ferro.

Ferro further appealed for the public's cooperation in sustaining the gains that Cebu City has in the past few months over the battle against COVID-19 as no one could afford to go back to more restricted quarantine status.

Aside from the reports on the mockery of the system imposed for the contact tracing, Ferro also warned those people who will be raising panic and alarm among the people especially on the social media platforms.

"There are some people who are making comment that are not good, they are inciting some panic button again, and I would like to remind them again that if you express your opinion you should be very careful because if they are going to express that it seems there is a problem unfounded by evidence, they will be answerable to the law," he said.

"We should not put chaos and panic in the Cebuanos and I will really investigate you people if you are saying these bad things about the Central Visayas, I will assure you that we will put you in jail if you are really want to destroy the Cebuanos," he added. — GMR (FREEMAN)