PNP: ‘Little ease may be felt’ with motorist movement as NCR Plus shifts to MECQ

MANILA, Philippines — A “little ease may be felt” when it comes to motorist movement as the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus transitioned to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Ildebrandi Usana said Tuesday.

“Now that we are into the MECQ, a little ease may be felt by our people and that means for public transport, there will be certain limitations of course but they will also feel ease with regard to every checkpoint that has to be handled by our police officers,” Usana said in an interview with INQUIRER.net’s INQside Look.

According to Usana, the PNP learned from its experience in the initial imposition of ECQ in Luzon back in 2020 when the implementation of quarantine protocols were tight.

During the re-implementation of ECQ in the NCR Plus this year, Usana said the PNP “adjusted enough” and were “able to make our police officers prudent enough to understand the predicament of our people.”

“Because of the entire stretch of the road where traffic congestions also happen, there are also some instances where police offices would rather ease the burden of our passengers, of our motorists and therefore we wouldn’t want to create difficulty on the part of our people to just continue their day-to-day activities under these circumstances,” Usana said.

Traffic congestions were reported during the first days of the re-imposition of ECQ in the NCR Plus—which includes Metro Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Rizal, and Laguna—as the police force set up checkpoints to man borders back in late March this year.

The ECQ imposed in the NCR Plus has been eased to MECQ which shall apply in the area until April 30.

JE