BUTUAN CITY – The support for front-liners in the government’s fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) must remain unhampered, an Army official said Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Joey B. Baybayan, commander of the Army's 3rd Special Forces Battalion (3SFBn), said there would be no “ceasefire” in the delivery of support services to members of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), which is composed of personnel of the Department of Health, local government units (LGUs), Philippine National Police (PNP), and other line agencies manning the quarantine checkpoints.
Baybayan said the Philippine Army, as a member of the IATF, would ensure the security of all task force members during the round-the-clock quarantine checkpoint operations.
“Being front-liners is not new to us in the military and the law enforcement service. We know what it feels,” he said.
On Tuesday, the 3SFBn and the Philippine Red Cross in Agusan del Sur joined hands providing food to front-liners in two towns.
1Lt. Krisjuper Andreo J. Punsalan, 3SFBn civil-military operations officer, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday that the Army and the Red Cross delivered a total of 100 food packs to front-liners in Barangay Magsaysay, Prosperidad town and the Bayugan City villages of Tagbas, Maygatasan, and Osmeña.
“These barangays are in the boundary areas of Agusan del Sur from other provinces. A number of our front-liners are serving in quarantine checkpoints in these barangays day and night,” Punsalan said.
He said 3SFBn would continue its initiative to reach out to private groups for donations of food and protective gear for Covid-19 front-liners.
Meanwhile, Baybayan said despite the ceasefire declared with the communist New People’s Army (NPA), the Army and the PNP would not "cease to perform their mandate and duty to the people of Agusan del Sur and the rest of the Caraga region." (PNA)
‘No ceasefire’ in delivery of support to front-liners: Army
By Alexander Lopez
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