Police personnel continue to man a checkpoint in Baragay Suba, Cebu City to discourage residents from leaving their homes on Saturday morning, June 27, 2020. CDN Digital photo | Gerard Francisco
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Intimidation and abuse from policemen will not be tolerated.
This is the assurance of Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), following complaints posted online by some citizens who allegedly experienced intimidation from policemen patrolling some areas of the city.
“If there are those who have been abusive, just report it to us and surely we will conduct an investigation and will impose disciplinary measures,” said Ferro on Monday, June 29, 2020.
As of today, more than 2,000 police are spread around the city to help impose the guidelines of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the hopes of containing the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
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According to Ferro, before deployment, policemen were repeatedly given instructions to exercise the basic “humanitarian act,” or impose rules while respecting each person’s human rights.
“We will not tolerate any abusive officer because during this time, we cannot fail the people. We cannot fail the Sugboanons,” said Ferro.
Ferro said they will be acting on the complaints posted on social media, but he encourages the public to report any incident of abuse from policemen directly to them.
Those who want to report can either go to the nearest police station as long as they have their quarantine passes with them. If they aren’t allowed to go out, they can report it to the “Itug-an ni CD” hotline at 0966-465-2556 and 0918-268-2846, or send a private message in its Facebook page.
As of 5 p.m. on Sunday, Cebu City already logged a total of 5,794 COVID-19 cases with 3,278 cases that are active, 2,359 recoveries, and 157 deaths. /bmjo