AS soon as he heard over the radio that Pangasinan would be placed under no quarantine regulation on May 16, an excited jeepney driver brought out his jeepney and conveyed passengers from Calasiao to Dagupan City in the morning of May 12.

The jeepney, driven by Rodolfo Cabinta, 50, of Barangay Buenlag, currently renting a house in Poblacion East, Calasiao, was intercepted by policemen at the border between Calasiao and Dagupan.

He was advised to turn back but he ignored this and instead sped away his jeepney that was already loaded with passengers commuting from Calasiao to Dagupan.

He was promptly chased by policemen and caught up with Cabinta in front of the Barangay Hall in Caranglaan. His passengers were forced to disembark and walked to their destinations in Dagupan.

Cabinta had no quarantine pass nor documents for the jeepney so he was taken into custody by the police and charged for violation of Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines.

Dagupan and the rest of Region 1 were downgraded the next day by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) from No Quarantine status. (Leonardo Micua)

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