Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. on Tuesday has ordered the strict enforcement of the prohibition on social or public gatherings down to the barangay level.

Defensor, in his statement, said the memorandum is addressed to local task forces and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the strict implementation of health protocols and community quarantine measures through the PNP’s Barangay Covid Defense (BaCod) Community Level Response Against Pandemic.

“We want to go to the barangay level in our implementation,” he said, adding that he has already talked with Col. Gilbert Gorero, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) relative to its implementation.

Social/public gatherings include birthday party, fiesta thanksgiving feast, wedding reception, baptismal banquet, anniversary celebration, and other similar gatherings.

He said their contract tracing showed that cases of Covid-19 have been due to these kinds of social gatherings.

“Social gatherings are prohibited but celebrations at the household level are encouraged, limited only to immediate family members of the family and other household residents,” the order said.

In the memorandum order, all local task forces through the PNP BaCod-PnP-Bet (Patrulya ng Bayan – Barangay Enforcement Team) shall conduct information operations at the barangay level through the punong barangay.

The schedule of fiestas has to be monitored and a copy of the memorandum shall be delivered to the punong barangay at least five days before the fiesta.

Fiesta thanksgiving celebrations shall also be limited to immediate members of the family and other household residents.

Latest data from the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) showed that as of April 5, the province has already 5,501 total cumulative cases, to already include the 20 new cases, which are all local transmissions.

Of the total cases, 522 are active, 4,833 have recovered and 146 deaths. (PNA)