BAGUIO CITY — The city’s policemen have been authorized to cuff quarantine violators for the last two weeks of the extended Luzon quarantine.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong issued the directive on Sunday (April 19), a day after a checkpoint along Marcos Highway foiled the smuggling of three Baguio residents through the border with no travel passes.
About 295 violators were detained from May 17 to April 1, according to records of the Baguio City Police Office. Crime incidences have dropped to 28 cases from April 1-15, from 33 cases investigated from Mar. 16-31.
Placing violators in handcuffs would show residents they should not be complacent, given that Baguio doctors have treated 17 patients afflicted with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Magalong said, and waste progress made in containing further transmission. About 12 of these patients have recovered.