JTF COVID Shield creates Facebook account to facilitate reports of quarantine violations

The Joint Task Force COVID Shield (JTF COVID Shield) on Saturday said it has created a Facebook account where the netizens could directly report blatant violations of quarantine protocols.

In a statement, Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, said the move is part of its effort to empower the people not only to help the government in the enforcement of the quarantine rules but also in protecting themselves and their community from “hardheaded” people, who defy the protocols in observing minimum health safety standards.

“We in the JTF COVID Shield believe that most of our netizens have already come across with total disregard of having quarantine violations in their accounts through the uploaded photos and videos of their Facebook friends. And we share disappointment and anger against those people because it is really unfair that most of our kababayan are strictly abiding by the rules while there are people who even dare to flaunt their defiance by posting them in the social media,” Eleazar said.

“Through the Facebook account of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, they will be given a platform to immediately report to us any blatant violation of quarantine rules such as engaging in drinking sessions, large parties and celebration and even illegal gambling in public places. All they need to do is to send us the photos and videos and we will take care of the rest,” he added.

The JTF COVID Shield urged police commanders and their men to regularly monitor social media for violations of quarantine protocols. 

The task force commander explained that netizens have been posting on social media to complain of violations of minimum health safety standard protocols, including mass gatherings for drinking sessions and other forms of celebration.

Eleazar added that some are also uploading photos and videos of celebrations they have attended despite the prohibition under the community quarantine.

He, later on, clarified that the social media posts will only serve as "basis for further investigation."

The JTF commander also said government officials and prominent personalities are the target of this endeavor

Eleazar said the official Facebook account of the JTF COVID Shield under the account name Covid Shield, is an “additional avenue for the public to report all quarantine violation they would monitor in the social media, aside from the existing Facebook accounts of local police stations and other police units.”

The task force chief said those who want to report quarantine violations in social media could either tag the JTF COVID Shield or send photos and videos through Messenger. 

The photos and videos that would be sent will be used as basis in the verification of the police in coordination with the local government units (LGUs) concerned, particularly the barangay officials.

Earlier, Philippine National Police Chief General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan emphasized the need for the barangay level enforcement of the quarantine rules, saying a good coordination between the police and the barangay officials could lead to effective prevention of the spread of the COVID-19.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año also encouraged netizens to help the government enforce the quarantine rules, saying that they are also in the better position to monitor in social media for violations of community quarantine protocols in their respective communities.

“We encourage the public to take photos and videos of violations of quarantine protocols and then upload them. We assure them that we will take action because this is a matter of protecting public health,” Año said.

Meanwhile, Eleazar assured the public that the identity and other information of those who would report quarantine violations in the social media will be protected.

He also assured that no violation of privacy will be made since the JTF COVID Shield and the PNP support and respect the Data Privacy Act.

“The PNP will not monitor private social media accounts because first, it is illegal and second, our local police stations do not have the capability to do it,” Eleazar said.

“What we would monitor are blatant violations of quarantine rules such as drinking on the streets and other public places, large parties and celebrations, and illegal gambling such as tupada that are posted by netizens out of frustration for violation of quarantine rules, those reported directly by the netizens to the police through the social media accounts of various police stations and PNP units, and those who would go viral in the social media,” he added. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA News