DAVAO CITY -- A personnel of Davao City’s Central 911 Emergency Response Center has been terminated from employment after violating the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) quarantine rules.
In a statement Friday, Emmanuel Jaldon, Central 911 chief, said Reego Vismanos, a personnel of Central 911, was terminated from service after figuring in a shooting incident in Barangay Alip in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao in the afternoon of May 8, 2020.
While Vismanos survived the shooting, his companion, Joaquin Fordaliza, unfortunately, died.
He said the incident happened while the city was strictly implementing movement restrictions under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
“Vismanos and Fordaliza’s trip to Maguindanao was unofficial. It remains to be a subject of a police investigation,” Jaldon said.
The two personnel, onboard a private vehicle, bought bananas in the said area when the group of alias “Kumander Grasscutter” shot them.
Fordaliza was killed on the spot while Vismanos survived the attack.
The suspects, onboard motorcycles, fled to an unknown direction.
“Obviously, however, there was a flagrant disregard of the measures that the City Government of Davao put in place to fight the spread of the deadly Covid-19. Because of this, the services of Mr. Vismanos at Central 911 are being discontinued effective immediately,” Jaldon said.
He added that the incident served as a reminder for others that the city government does not tolerate personnel who boldly defy policies — setting a bad example for others.
In a recent radio interview, Mayor Sara Z. Duterte said she wondered why the two personnel were in the said place since the city was strictly enforcing ECQ measures.
“They are not on official work travel. We were even surprised that they traveled to Maguindanao because they were supposed to be in a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Their quarantine should have started the day they went to Maguindanao,” she said.
Meanwhile, in a radio report, the Maguindanao police have identified the suspects as Mon Pangawilan, Joros Guiamad, and Abdul Latip Pindaliday alias “Kumander Grasscutter”, who were members of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
Authorities continue searching for the whereabouts of the suspects and a case of murder was filed before the Maguindanao Provincial Prosecutor Office. (PNA)
