THE president of the League of Mayor of the Philippines (LMP) Pangasinan chapter has called on all fellow mayors to follow the protocol or chain of command whenever they declare lockdown in their respective municipalities during the current health emergency

Lingayen Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil, LMP provincial chapter president, said municipal mayors should not break the chain of command as he reminded them that municipalities and even component cities are under the provincial government.

He stressed this during the Virtual KBP Forum zoomed from his office in Lingayen on June 11, citing how a mayor in western Pangasinan conducted himself when he declared an Extreme Enhanced Community Quarantine (EECQ) in his town without informing the provincial government about it.

Bataoil reminded the mayors that they are subordinate to the provincial government headed by the provincial governor (Amado Espino III) who is also the chairman of the provincial Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

He said that the chain of command starts from the national, regional, provincial, municipal/city, and down to the barangay level, adding that mayors are guided by the advisories, directives, and memorandum circular of the provincial governor.

Then he cited the protocol that if one barangay registers two or more COVID-19 cases, that barangay should be locked down.

And, when two barangays are found to have COVID-19 cases, that town will be locked down.

Then, when two or more municipalities in the province are found with positive cases of COVID-19, the province will be locked down.

Bataoil pointed out that while the mayor may have the discretion to declare lockdown for the good of his people and could justify it, it behooves the mayor as a matter of duty and courtesy to inform the governor of his actions.

To underscore the need for lateral and bilateral coordination between municipalities/cities and the provincial government during an extreme emergency crisis, Bataoil said the Lingayen municipal government reports its daily activities in fighting COVID-19 to the provincial government. (Leonardo Micua)

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