No letup vs ordinance violators: 57K held in a month

The public outcry over the police clampdown on violators of city ordinances may have died down, but the roundups continued and hauled off about 57,000 people to police stations across the metropolis over the past month.

According to data from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), the five police districts in Metro Manila have made a combined total of 56,988 arrests between June 13 and July 18 as they intensified operations against violators of local curfews or ordinances that ban smoking and drinking in public places and going shirtless in the streets.

Only 16 persons remained in police custody as of Wednesday, the NCRPO data showed. According to the regional director, Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, 60 percent of those arrested were released after being given a warning, 29 percent were released after paying fines, while only 11 percent were formally charged, mostly by the Manila police. —Matthew Reysio-Cruz