12 Cebu City barangays to be placed under strict lockdown —Cimatu

At least 12 barangays in Cebu City were identified as hotspots for COVID-19 and will be placed under strict lockdown, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said Thursday.

In a press briefing, Cimatu — tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte to address the spike in COVID-19 cases in Cebu City — said 160 members of the Special Action Forces (SAF) and 200 more police personnel will be deployed as augmentation forces for the enforcement of community quarantine measures in the city.

The following are the 12 barangays that will be placed under strict lockdown:

1. Sambag II

2. Kamputhaw

3. Sambag 1

4. Basak San Nicola

5. Mabolo,

6. Guadalupe

7. Lahug

8. Duljo Fatima

9. Tinago

10. Tisa

11. Ermita

12. Tejero

Cimatu said these areas have the high number of COVID-19 cases.

SAF

Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, commander of Joint Task Force COVID Shield, said members of SAF, an elite unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP), will be deployed to Cebu City to help impose discipline on "hardheaded" residents.

"[The] SAF commandos are known to be strict in enforcing the quarantine rules which subsequently compelled hardheaded residents to stay in their houses," he said, referring to the time SAF forces help enforce enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila.

The strict lockdown will be implemented to avoid further transmission of the virus to other communities, Cimatu added.

According to Cimatu, the implementation of quarantine passes will be discussed by concerned officials later in the day.

President Rodrigo Duterte designated Cimatu to oversee government efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Cebu City, which has one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases nationwide.

Residents unhappy

Cebu City residents, meanwhile, lamented the lockdown imposed by authorities, saying that they were not notified in advance.

On Wednesday, some 17 individuals were arrested in the city for violation of quarantine protocols, bringing the total of violators to 836 since ECQ was re-imposed last June 16, 2020.

In a Facebook post, Mayor Edgar Labella appealed for "calm and understanding" from his constituents following the enforcement of the lockdown and the temporary suspension of quarantine passes of more or less 250,000 residents. —KBK, GMA News