Police Colonel Hector Grijaldo Jr.
CEBU CITY, Philippines —The increasing number of curfew and enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) violators is giving policemen in Cebu City a headache.
Police Colonel Hector Grijaldo Jr., chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said that they already arrested more than 600 individuals since the start of the ECQ implementation here on March 28. With this, the requirement for social distancing is no longer being followed in the detention facilities in the city’s 11 police stations.
He said the detention cells of the different police stations here were built to accommodate only 20 individuals but these have long been overcrowded.
“Walay luag nga jail, lahat occupied,” he said.
(There are no uncongested jails in the city now, all of our jails are occupied.).
As of Monday, April 6, 2020, CCPO already recorded 684 arrests for curfew and ECQ violations.
Grijado expressed fear that the overcrowding of their detention cells could result in the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among the detainees.
While he continues to look for a solution to their overcrowding concerns, Grijaldo said they will have to contend with remedial measures for now. This include the need to ensure proper hygiene among the inmates.
Grijaldo said he gave instructions to the in-charge of the detention facilities of the 11 police stations to make sure that they allow their detainees to take a bath daily and wash their hands before and after every meal and after comfort room use.
Also, detention cells are to be disinfected on a regular basis.
The CCPO chief said that they are also finding means to hasten the filing of court cases against the arrested individuals so they can already remanded to the city jail in Barangay Kalunasan. / dcb