LAOAG CITY, July 15 (PIA) – The local chief executive of Laoag City is quick to belie circulating news on declaration of “enhanced community quarantine” in the said city.

Mayor Michael Marcos Keon said there’s no truth to the rumor being spread online and in the communities.

“I don’t know why that keeps on circulating. This is not true. It’s not going to be declared,” said Keon.

He even shared he talked with Governor Matthew Marcos Manotoc and confirmed Laoag City will not be put on a more stricter community quarantine.

At present, the “capital city” in Ilocos Norte is under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) which took effect last July 10 because of the increasing number of residents infected of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

This move to place Laoag City under MECQ is to facilitate contact tracing and contain the spread of the viral disease.

As of July 14, the city holds the highest number of active cases among towns and cities in the province with 429, next to Batac City with 118, and Bangui with 88 active cases.

During the Network Briefing News (NBN) on July 15 anchored by Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar, the mayor of Alegria, Surigao del Norte talked about fighting fake news in this time of pandemic.

“Fake news is very rampant, especially on social media so we need to discern first the news and validate what we read because not everything we read or hear online is true,” said Mayor Rene Esma.

He added, “We need to validate the credibility or reliability of our sources before we spread the news.”

NBN is a regular news program organized by PCOO, Philippine Information Agency (PIA), and Radyo Pilipinas which runs from Mondays to Friday at 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. (JCR/MJTAB,PIA Ilocos Norte)