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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Number of ECQ violators reduced by almost half after deployment of SAF, soldiers -- Eleazar

Number of ECQ violators reduced by almost half after deployment of SAF, soldiers -- Eleazar

Published Apr 26, 2020 12:00 am

By Aaron Recuenco

The government’s draconian measures to implement safety measures against the spread of the coronavirus are working as the Joint Task Force COVID Shield noted a sharp decline in the number of home quarantine violators after the deployment of soldiers and police commandos. Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar (PNP / MANILA BULLETIN) Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar
(PNP / MANILA BULLETIN) Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, said the deployment of the police’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) to run after private vehicles whose owners are violating the ECQ also helped in the reduction of the violators by almost half since April 23. Soldiers and commandos of the police’s elite Special Action Force (SAF) started to make their presence felt on April 21, especially in Metro Manila where most of the violations are recorded. Their deployment comes with trucks and armored personnel carriers. The highest number of violators was recorded on March 17, or the first implementation of the lockdown, at more than 8,000. In the first 39 days, home quarantine violations ranged from 2,500 to 4,000 across the country, according to Eleazar. In the first two days after the SAF and more soldiers were deployed, the figures were still in 3,000 mark but when the public started seeing the stricter measures, Eleazar said the number of violations started to dwindle. On April 23, Eleazar said they recorded a steep decline as only 1,585 violators were reported across the country. The reduction was mostly recorded in Luzon where most SAF commandos and soldiers were deployed. From a total of 2,313 violators reported in Luzon on April 22, the figure went down to more than half, or 1,152 violators. Since April 23 up to April 25, Eleazar said the number of violators no longer breached the 2,000 mark— 1,488 violators were reported on April 24, and 1,811 on April 25. “We attribute this significant decrease in the number of violators recorded in the past few days to stricter implementation of the ECQ Guideline through the deployment of our SAF troopers and soldiers and also when our HPG personnel started running after private vehicles,” said Eleazar. “We are monitoring the situation on the ground on a daily basis in order to make immediate and necessary security adjustments in any area where any increase of ECQ violators were monitored,” he added. Aside from deployment of soldiers and SAF, it was recalled that HPG personnel also intensified the operations against home quarantine violators inside private vehicles. Aside from setting up mobile checkpoints, motorcycle-riding policemen were also deployed to chase private vehicles violating the Enhanced Community Quarantine. Earlier, national police chief General Archie Gamboa ordered policemen to refrain from warning the violators and instead, immediately arrest and charge them. In compliance, Eleazar said that since Friday all the violators were either arrested or fined. From Friday to Saturday, he said a total of 3,299 violators were reported— 2,231 of them were arrested and charged while 1,068 were fined. He explained that the reason why some violators were fined was that some of the ordinances passed by the Local Government Units prefer imposing fine than filing of charges, especially for first time violators.
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