Provincial administrator (PA) Kathyrin Pioquinto says that the provincial government is mulling legal action against the alleged “fake” five (5) locally stranded individuals (LSIs) that attempted to enter the town of Guindulman early this week.
Pioquinto revealed the information in a radio interview on Thursday, June 25, 2020, over “Open Forum” program.
“We are studying it (legal action) right now but we already have instructions to proceed with the legal options as we cannot really let this (the incident) go,” Pioquinto said.
She added that letting the incident go may lead to abuse and give the impression that Bohol is lenient on LSIs that allegedly are misrepresented.
“We are gathering and taking the documents because one of the requirements is for you to also represent that you are really a resident of Bohol,” she said.
Pioquinto added that any LSI discovered to be not a resident of Bohol is tantamount to falsification and is administratively and criminally liable.
The provincial administrator revealed that the five (5) alleged “fake” LSIs are now billeted in a quarantine facility in Ubay and may face charges after completing the quarantine.
BACKSTORY
It was learned that the five (5) LSIs allegedly are from Guindulman and arrived early this week from Leyte to Ubay.
The LSI focal person from Guindulman tasked to fetch LSIs was surprised to learn that there were five (5) other LSIs supposedly from Guindulman who arrived in Ubay. The Guindulman LSI focal person, identified as Darwin Tan, said he expected to fetch two (2) LSIs but instead met seven (7) LSIs.
Upon arriving at the checkpoint at Guindulman, the alleged LSIs were intercepted. Per verification, it was learned that they are not residents of the town.
Guindulman mayor Maria Fe Piezas decided to push the purported LSIs back to Ubay and refused entry to the town.