Leaders openly defying quarantine measures deserve severe punishment

BARANGAY officials defying strict guidelines of the enhanced community quarantine in view of the coronavirus diseases (Covid-19) must be punished severely if only to send a strong message that the government is seriously enforcing the measures to contain the epidemic.

On Black Saturday, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso motored to neighboring Caloocan City, hunting for the chairman and councilors of Barangay 129, who, he said, were spotted at a cockfight on Good Friday inside the North Cemetery. The mayor gave the erring barangay leaders 48 hours to surrender, and they did later in the evening.