PNP: Individuals arrested over fake COVID-19 tests, public drinking in NCR Plus

MANILA, Philippines — While there have been no arrests for violations on quarantine protocols such as curfew and observance of minimum public health standards, a number of individuals were arrested in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus in the last two weeks in relation to offenses such as public drinking and falsification of COVID-19 test results.

“We didn’t have any data to show that we arrested violations related to minimum public health standards except for crimes like possession of illegal drugs, public drinking, illegal cockfighting, production of fake RT-PCR tests, falsification of public documents, and then some violation under Republic Act No. 11332,” Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Ildebrandi Usana said in an interview with INQUIRER.net’s INQside Look.

The PNP, however, has yet to release exact numbers on the arrests made on the basis of public drinking or illegal cockfighting, among others.

Based on data from the PNP, there have been 52,745 violators of the minimum public health standards in NCR Plus during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period as of April 12.

Of this number, 3,430 arrests were in relation to Republic Act No. 11332 or the “Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act”.

Under R.A. No. 11332, prohibited acts include unauthorized disclosure of private and confidential information pertaining to a patient’s medical condition or treatment, and tampering of records or intentionally providing misinformation.

In the same interview, Usana said those who were caught violating minimum public health standards in the NCR Plus—such as non-wearing of face masks and attending social gatherings—were only either warned or fined.

“There have been no arrests made on ECQ violations. We are talking about the last two weeks. Out of the 52,740 violations, more than 50 percent were simply warned. They just simply were advised by our police officers to perhaps comply with the minimum public health standards,” Usana said.

Usana said police officers have been ordered to observe maximum tolerance and not arrest those involved in minor offenses.

“We’ve had a number of controversies that we faced last year and this time, the chief PNP wanted that arrests shall not be part of our interventions with regard to any violations that are being committed by our people especially if they are simply not wearing your face masks or face shields or violating the physical distancing and all that,” Usana said.

JE