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A morning was held on May 8 for Metro Manila Police Chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas (Photo from NCRPO Facebook page)
MANILA, Philippines – The head of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), Major General Debold Sinas, may have ended the “surprise” birthday party organized by his subordinates to respect quarantine regulations, but decided not to.
This was the reaction of the representative of the list of the Bayan Muna party, Ferdinand Gaite, who said that, judging by the photos that leaked from the Facebook page of the NCRPO Public Information Office (PIO), Sinas enjoyed the attention you received.
“Sinas, who is a top official and the center of the celebration, could have told everyone to end the party at that time simply out of delicacy. But he obviously enjoyed the attention and encouraged it, ”Gaite said in a statement Wednesday.
“Photos were also circulating showing they were drinking alcohol, while everyone knows about the liquor ban. Sinas can make an effort to discard the other photos, but those that were published on Facebook by the PNP PIO already reveal a lot, “he added.
The problem arose when the NCRPO PIO uploaded photos on their Facebook page of a “morning” for Sinas, or a morning birthday celebration for commanding officers. The NCRPO chief’s birthday was on May 8.
Sinas and his staff earned the ire of netizens by seeing what appeared to be a breach of the rules on physical distancing and mass gatherings, which were put in place to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission.
After he was convicted on social media, Sinas reasoned on Wednesday that he was caught in a difficult situation by complacent officers who had already prepared the celebration for him, though he insisted that he reminded them to follow COVID-19’s prevention measures.
“Delighted to celebrate the birthday, I was surprised by a traditional Mañanita led spontaneously by some of my officers and men of their own free will. In reality, my adaptation to them was done with great caution because I am fully aware of the measures against Covid implemented by the government, ”said Sinas.
He also argued that some of the photos, including some showing him and other police officers with beer cans on and under the table, in violation of the liquor ban, were old. As for wearing the same shirt, Sinas staff said they were wearing the same shirt in the morning and last December.
The Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), General Archie Gamboa, ordered the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to carry out an investigation into the incident.
“We hope that the investigation into the now infamous ‘Mañanita’ is not about clearing General Debold Sinas as the investigation that released him from responsibility for the murder of 14 farmers when he was head of the Central Visayas of the Philippine National Police ( PNP) “. Gaite said, referring to the murder of 14 farmers during an anti-loose firearms operation in March 2019.
“We have seen this before, so we will be watching. The photos clearly show that there were violations of the quarantine protocols regarding the prohibition of mass meetings, mandatory use of face masks, social distancing, among others, since it would be very difficult for them to say otherwise, “he added.
According to the Department of Health (DOH) tracking website COVID-19, there are to date 11,618 cases of the disease across the country, of which 7,464 are in Metro Manila, which is under the jurisdiction of the NCRPO.
There are 5,315 active cases in Metro Manila, with 558 deaths and 1,591 recoveries.
Nationwide, 772 of the 11,618 patients died and 2,251 recovered.
Worldwide, there are now more than 4,264 million people infected with the latest coronavirus strain, of which 291,972 have died while 1,493 million have recovered.
/ATM
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