Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) together with Police Major Juanito Alaras of Mabolo Police station, conduct a foot patrol inside Sitio Zapatera, Barrio Luz, in this CCPO file photo. The city’s chief of police said there is enough police force to secure the city’s peace and order situation especially now that the enhanced community quarantine has been extended.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Police force and augmented personnel from the crisis response battalion of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (POR-7) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are enough to ensure the preservation of peace and order in the city.
This was the assessment of Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, chief of CCPO, amid reports that certain areas in the city needed more police presence as residents continue to defy the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) protocols.
“For now, enough paman ta didto and can cope up with the security requirements,” said Ligan.
He added that they will, however, be verifying reports of people still going outside as police assessments did not indicate any new defiance of the provisions of the ECQ.
Ligan said that in their daily updates, barangay residents have been noted to be more cooperative with the authorities and were also more active in enforcing the ECQ guidelines themselves.
However, Ligan said they will have to reevaluate their strategy as situations could change at any given time.
As of this posting, there are more than 800 police and AFP personnel guarding each barangay by conducting foot patrols and making sure that ECQ rules are being followed. /rcg