9,403 ECQ violators in CV in nearly a month
Members of the Cebu City police force. | file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Almost a month since some of the provinces in Central Visayas implemented enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the number of quarantine violators has reached 9,403 individuals.
Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) director, said that most of the violators were minors and were not arrested but instead underwent a forum about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and were penalized before they were released.
Ferro said those penalized, however, were repeat violators while first time offenders only underwent a forum.
The penalty for these repeat offenders were either paying a fine or doing community service.
Ferro said that most of those violators caught were from Cebu City.
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Out of the 9,403 recorded violators, Ferro said that 817 of had been charged through direct or regular filing of charges while at 1,171 individuals were charged with disobedience.
Read more: More ECQ violators arrested in Talisay City with more police on the ground – Pelare
For those who were hoarding and overpricing supplies, PRO-7 recorded 18 individuals who were also charged.
Read more: 115 liquor ban violators nabbed in Lapu since start of ECQ — police
Despite the seemingly high number of violators, Ferro said the numbers decreased weeks after the ECQ started.
“What I believe is it is decreasing,” said Ferro.
He said this was because the police had been strict with implementing the guidelines of the ECQ especially during their foot patrols in the barangays and in the public markets.
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Although the most persons arrested were ECQ violators, Ferro said the police were still able to capture criminals during their anti-criminality operations which was also their priority on top of their ECQ tasks.
This would be proven according to Ferro with the recent arrest of high-value and non-listed drugs personalities during checkpoints and buy-bust operations.
“This shows that our policemen here in Central Visayas are working hard,” said Ferro./dbs
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