More than 4,000 accosted for curfew violations

RESTRICTED Coast Guard personnel man the baywalk along Roxas Boulevard on Saturday to keep joggers and bikers off the area. — MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 4,394 violators were caught for breaking the longer curfew hours on the first day of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila, according to the Philippine National Police.

Of this number, 2,201 underwent community service; 1,235 were fined; 605 were warned; while 353 were released for filing of complaints, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the PNP, said on Saturday, citing data from Joint Task Force Covid Shield.

The curfew in Metro Manila was adjusted to start earlier at 8 p.m. until 4 a.m. the next day during the lockdown from Aug. 6 to Aug. 20 as a measure to prevent the spread of the more infectious Delta variant.

The PNP deployed around 18,000 police officers to implement the lockdown in the National Capital Region—from manning quarantine control points, implementing curfew hours, and securing vaccination sites and quarantine facilities.

“Based on our monitoring, the implementation of the ECQ went well. We see this to continue over the weekend. However, the challenge will be on Monday, when [authorized persons outside of residence] return to their work,” Eleazar explained.

The PNP chief was made aware of the public’s observation that Friday’s scenario was “like not ECQ,” but he stressed that the current lockdown and the previous lockdowns, especially the first one last year, “have differences.”

“Our ECQ now has more industries permitted to operate. Their workforces and the people who avail of their services are also higher, meaning there are more people outside,” he said.

He added that while in previous lockdowns, public transportation was restricted, current regulations allow them to ply the roads at 50-percent maximum capacity.

Eleazar tasked police commanders to work with force multipliers of local governments to check at transport terminals if the one-seat-apart rule in public transportation was being followed.