The Joint Task Force Corona Virus Shield (JTF CV Shield) on Monday reminded all police commanders to make sure no barangay checkpoints would be set up along national highways and provincial roads to establish uniform implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).

In a statement Tuesday, Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, JTF CV Shield commander, said the move is in compliance with the order of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año amid complaints of different rules and regulations being implemented by the Local Government Units (LGUs) down to the barangay level.

“Our Chief PNP, General Archie Gamboa, has already directed all the police commanders to assist us in the implementation of the SILG’s order,” Eleazar said.

The JTF CV Shield is the enforcement arm of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases which is composed of the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fire Protection.

He said barangay checkpoints along national highways and provincial roads has resulted in the delay of the movement of basic commodities and also caused confusion among people, particularly those exempted from the home quarantine as some barangay officials are implementing different quarantine rules and regulations.

Eleazar added this is why they still receive complaints that some barangay checkpoints are disregarding IATF rules.

“Some of these barangay checkpoints are implementing their own rules which are clearly in defiance of the IATF guidelines. We in the JTF CV Shield have been receiving similar complaints from cargo owners and drivers and even from people who are supposed to be exempted from home quarantine but were being barred in barangay checkpoints,” he said.

Eleazar did not name the barangays.

Based on the DILG order, only PNP checkpoints are allowed along national highway and provincial road and only PNP personnel are allowed to inspect cargo trucks passing along the major roads.

He said barangay checkpoints are only allowed on interior roads provided there is a prior coordination with the local police station for their set up and that barangay checkpoints will be supervised by the local police.

Eleazar said the PNP supervision on all barangay checkpoints are necessary to ensure barangay officials will not be given any chance to implement rules and regulationsnot aligned with the IATF guidelines.

“While the situation has already improved in the past days, there are still some problems in other areas because some of the LGUs are insisting on following their own rules, some of these rules contradict the IATF Guideline. This should not be the case. There should be a uniform rule to avoid confusion and delay of the movement of cargoes,” he added.

While the ECQ is only Luzon-wide, the order to dismantle barangay checkpoints along national highways and provincial roads also apply in the Visayas and Mindanao as some local government units have imposed their own lockdowns amid the threats of COVID-19. Ella Dionisio/DMS