LA TRINIDAD, Benguet– The municipal government allowed the La Trinidad Municipal Police Station (LTMPS) to use its newly constructed senior citizens building as a quarantine facility for law enforcers assigned in the municipality.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda said policemen waiting for their swab test results can use the quarantine facility devoted purely for the uniformed personnel.
The use of the senior citizens building as a quarantine facility for uniformed personnel was embodied in a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by Mayor Salda and LTMPS chief Police Maj. Clef Vencio during a simple signing ceremony over the weekend.
The municipal chief executive explained that law enforcers who test positive for the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) will be automatically turned over to the Benguet General Hospital (BeGH) while the 9-bed quarantine facility in the senior citizens building will be made available for asymptomatic patients and personnel waiting for the release of their swab test results from the existing molecular laboratories in nearby Baguio City.
According to him, the grant of the use of the senior citizens building as a quarantine facility for uniformed personnel is part of the municipal government’s commitment in sustaining and enhancing the partnership of the municipality and the local police force so that personnel who will be infected with the deadly virus will have a place to undergo their prescribed 14-day quarantine.
Under the guidelines governing the identification of quarantine and isolation facilities, the national inter-agency task force for the management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases mandated all local governments to identify potential quarantine and isolation sites in their respective areas of jurisdiction where individuals that are required to undergo isolation will be confined to minimize the so-called home isolation which has been identified as one of the major culprits in the spread of the virus in the different communities around the country.
For his part, Vencio expressed the gratitude of the LTMPS and the Benguet Provincial Police Office to the municipal government headed by Mayor Salda and Vice Mayor Awingan for immediately responding to the request of the local police force to grant the exclusive use of the town’s senior citizens building as a quarantine facility for uniformed personnel that are required to undergo the prescribed 14-day quarantine and those waiting for the release of their swab test results.
The police official claimed that the availability of the quarantine facility for law enforcers will help in boosting the morale of the policemen in sustaining their efforts to strictly implement the prevailing community quarantine rules and regulations that will contribute in the overall efforts to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
Vencio stated that municipal officials and concerned stakeholders in the municipality really value the importance of having a harmonious working relationship with the community in the realization of lasting peace in the locality.
By Hent