TABUK CITY, Kalinga– Concerned residents and sectors in the city rallied behind the three frontliners of the local government in their quest for justice after allegedly being discriminated by Vice Mayor Bernard Glenn Dao-as while manning a checkpoint at Talaca here over two months ago.
In their open letter to President Rodrigo Duterte, the signatories composed of people from the cross section of the community sought the President’s help the embattled frontliners in their fight against alleged discrimination, especially by elected and other government officials in the performance of their duties.
The concerned residents also demanded for the outright protection of the frontliners in the ongoing fight against the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for data protection, privacy and confidentiality of records and identity of COVID-19 patients and for local governments to ensure their health and safety and their general welfare.
The signatories took the chance to strongly denounce the alleged discriminatory, demeaning, degrading and libelous acts of Vice Mayor Dao-as against some 3 frontliners who were merely doing their jobs at the Talaca quarantine chokepoint in the city.
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The petitioners argued that the vice mayor allegedly breached protocols by refusing to submit his relative from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Bulacan for triaging despite not having the necessary travel documents and medical certificate; by allegedly condoning the use of a fictious name in the health declaration she submitted to the frontliners on duty and by allegedly refusing to bring his relative to the triage center amidst the request of the frontliners on duty.
Instead, the signatories stated that the vice mayor allegedly used the social media to reportedly discredit, shame and humiliate the concerned frontliners and call one of them nasty names such as stupid, low IQ and a mere job order.
Moreover, the petitioners also denounced the acts of a high ranking government official from the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the Cordillera, Mr. Danilo Daguio, who went on social media to belittle the frontliners by allegedly using words to describe them such as low IQ, no analytical thinking and the like and that his social media threat against the frontliners was due to the fact that he did not allegedly want to wait at the checkpoint to follow the health protocols.
The petitioners narrated that Daguio allegedly went on to fabricate a story of having to wait for 45 minutes at the quarantine checkpoint which story line was debunked by the frontliners on duty and other travelers who were at the checkpoint that same hour.
The signatories from the city also condemned all alleged acts of discriminating inflicted not only to the frontliners but also the the returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) locally stranded individuals, COVID-19 patients and others.
They admitted that they are fully aware that the law prohibits any act that causes stigma, disgrace, shame, humiliation, harassment or otherwise against the frontliners, COVID patients among others, thus, they must be dealt with accordingly by the concerned government agencies.
The petitioners called on the city government and other local government agencies to heed the call of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the National Privacy Commission to issue orders or ordinances prohibiting and penalizing acts of discrimination and attacks against health workers, OFWs, LSIs, COVID-19 patients among others.
“We stand united in our call to make any form of discrimination against frontliners a downright criminal offense and must be penalized,” the open letter stated.
According to them, they had observed that COVID-19 carries with it a stigma that brings out the worst in people and the same has affected not just patients but also frontliners, health professionals and hospital workers, police, military, and essential service personnel in the city who have put so much of themselves in the fight to contain the pandemic.
Despite the services and sacrifices the frontliners have contributed to defend the people against the pandemic, the signatories claimed that they often find the frontliners battling harassment, discrimination and even violence from people who may be acting misguidedly out of dread or distress.
Further, there were also some frontliners who had their personal data irresponsibly shared in social media accounts without their consent, thus, exposing them to cyber bullying, and has caused them stress and mental strain.
However, since the emergence of the deadly virus, people had witnessed the rise of public stigmatization among persons who have contracted the disease including persons under investigation and persons under monitoring and the rise of harmful stereotypes.
In the city, some frontliners admitted that they had experience discrimination and such other untoward acts against them in their performance of their duties by no less than elected and other high ranking officials who refused to follow established health and safety protocols as set forth by the national and local inter-agency task forces.
Herald Express tried to get the side of the vice mayor on the aforesaid matter but efforts were in vain although in an earlier statement, he stood firm on what had been posted in his social media account on his comments and remarks on the said incident.
By Hent
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