PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa in his online press conference. Image grabbed from the PNP Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines — There has been a decline in the number of violators of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the Luzon region since its implementation, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Archie Gamboa said Tuesday.
During the online meeting of the House’s Defeat COVID-19 Committee (DCC) Peace and Order Cluster, Gamboa said the number of violators declined from an average of 8,000 per day on March 17 to only around 300 to 400 today.
“There has been an improvement and probably because of the constant implementation of quarantine regulations,” Gamboa said.
Gamboa explained that in March, when the quarantine was initially implemented, only around 30 percent of the violators were only fined and charged in court. The remaining 70 percent were only issued warnings.
“But later upon the directive of strict implementation, this has actually shifted to 100 percent already [talking about those who were] fined and who are charged in court. So nagkaroon ng baliktad na paradigm para sumunod ang mga tao,” Gamboa said.
Currently, the Luzon region remains placed under ECQ.
Under ECQ, strict home quarantine shall be implemented in all households; transportation shall be suspended; provision for food and essential services shall be regulated; and heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce quarantine procedures will be implemented.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday said that the following areas will remain under ECQ until May 15 upon the approval of the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases:
- National Capital Region
- Region III (Central Luzon), except province of Aurora
- Region IV-A (Calabarzon)
- Pangasinan
- Benguet
- Baguio City
- Iloilo
- Cebu
- Cebu City
- Davao City
Several areas, meanwhile, will be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) starting May 1.