Newly-installed Philippine National Police chief Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar leads his first command conference at the PNP headquarters in Crame Crame, Quezon City on May 8, Saturday.
PHOTO FROM PNP PIO
MANILA, Philippines — Face mask rule violators will be detained in barangay and local government unit facilities instead of police stations, newly installed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said Monday.
“What we’ve done is coordinate them with different barangays, so that hindi na ito sa police station dadalhin, dun na sa barangay o ibang lugar na ipo-provide ng LGUs (local government units) so that hindi sila magkumpol-kumpol at maiwasan na ang pagkahawa-hawa,” Eleazar said in an ANC interview.
(The police will coordinate with different barangay officials so that the violators would no longer be brought to police stations, but will instead be brought to barangays or other areas to be designated by the LGUs so as to avoid overcrowding and transmission.)
Eleazar said that while some LGUS already have ordinances corresponding to violations in the use of face masks, but for those without, police may still opt to invite violators for questioning or detain them at the police station for at least 12 hours.
“Kung kinakailangan mag-fine sila, bigyan natin sila ng ordinance violation receipt, papauwiin na, then, magbayad sila ngayon,” he explained.
(If they are required to get fined, we would give them an ordinance violation receipt, let them go home, then they should pay the fine.)
He also reminded cops not to “punish” the curfew violators.
“Pinapaalalahanan din natin ang ating mga pulis na hindi natin sila pwedeng i-punish, yung ginagawa na pinagpag-exercise, hindi pupuwede yon,” he stressed.
(We remind our policemen that we should not punish [violators], you cannot make them exercise.)