By Aaron Recuenco The presence of the police’s elite Special Action Force (SAF) and soldiers has been proven effective in enforcing the quarantine rules to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Joint Task Force COVID Shield said on Saturday as more troopers were sent to Cebu City which was recently reverted back to the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). (photos jtf covid shield/ MANILA BULLETIN) (photos jtf covid shield/ MANILA BULLETIN) Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, made the statement amid the criticisms on the alleged militarization approach of the government in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, Vice President Leni Robredo questioned the alleged presence of tanks and other mobility assets of the police and the military in Metro Manila, stressing that it is the virus which is the real enemy and not the people. But Eleazar stressed that since one of the proven first lines of defense against the COVID-19 is containing the movement of the people, the presence of SAF commandos and soldiers is necessary especially against the hardheaded people who continue to go out on unnecessary errands. “The deployment of police commandos and soldiers here in Cebu City is not a militarization as some people would describe it, and therefore, is not a wrong approach. Rather, this is a tried-and-tested formula in the enforcement of quarantine rules as what happened in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon when we started deploying police commandos, soldiers and their mobility assets,” said Eleazar during his visit and inspection in Cebu City. He said that from between the 2,000 to 3,000 daily quarantine violators recorded in Luzon in April for instance, the figure sharply declined to a little over 1,000 a few days after the SAF and soldier deployment in the third week of April until it was further reduced and later did not reach the 1,000 mark. At least 150 commandos were deployed in Cebu City to strictly enforce the ECQ rules that include wearing of face masks, observing physical distancing and refraining from joining mass gathering. Lt. Gen. Roberto Ancan, commander of the military’s Central Command (CentCom), also deployed soldiers and their assets for enforcement of the ECQ rules in Cebu City. He also committed more soldiers if necessary. “We are not your enemy. We are on the same side in fighting the real enemy which is the coronavirus. While we do our share in fighting the coronavirus by taking every street and every border as our frontline, we expect the people to do their share by protecting their homes as their own frontline. This is our battle plan, and this is how we will win this fight,” said Eleazar.