Police nab 42,826 curfew violators nationwide

MANILA, Philippines — With over 40,000 persons arrested nationwide just 11 days into the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine, the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday warned that it would jail and charge persons defying the 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. imposed curfew.

Joint task force coronavirus shield chief and PNP deputy chief for operations Lt. General Guillermo Eleazar said that, on the request of the local government units, the PNP has decided to reconsider an earlier decision to undertake a catch-book-and-release policy for persons violating home quarantine rules and to stop being lenient with curfew violators.

In a statement on Sunday, Eleazar said there were 42,826 persons arrested nationwide for violating curfew from March 17 to March 27. Of the total number of violators, 33,243 were in Luzon, including 12,094 in Metro Manila.

While the enhanced community quarantine is only in Luzon, a number of LGUs in the Visayas and Mindanao have enforced their own lockdowns to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

He explained that initially, the PNP was lenient, sending apprehended curfew violators home “out of compassion” and because of the lack of social distancing-suitable jail facilities as well as government prosecutors to attend to filed cases.

Eleazar pointed out that the previous procedure was for the names and circumstances of curfew violators to be documented and the charges pursued after the enhanced community quarantine is lifted.

“Based on our assessment, the number of curfew violators will just continue to rise if we become lenient with them. This will definitely defeat the purpose of the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine which President Duterte approved purposely to contain COVID-19,” Eleazar said.

“In view of this situation, the arrest and filing of cases against curfew violators will continue. All the arrested violators will be taken to the nearest police stations for investigation and filing of the cases,” he said.

He added that the LGUs have agreed to provide facilities that can hold curfew violators who would undergo e-inquest proceedings.

Eleazar reminded all police units not to impose physical punishment on arrested curfew violators and asked the public to do their share in stopping the spread of COVID-19 by staying home. “The virus does not move. People move it. We stop moving, the virus stops. It’s that simple.”