214 policemen deployed in Cebu City’s streets

Policemen's marching order: Make sure that GCQ protocols are strictly implemented

Two hundred fourteen Cebu City policemen are sent off  at the Plaza Independencia to patrol areas in Cebu City to make sure that general community quarantine rules are strictly implemented.| Photos from CCPO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — More than 200 policemen of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) were deployed around the city today, August 1, 2020, with a directive to maintain the strict implementation of health protocols under the guidelines of the general community quarantine (GCQ) status of the city.

Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, chief of CCPO, said that 214 policemen would serve as overseers on the situation of public areas especially that they would be expecting more people outside their residences now that some establishments had already been given permission to operate again.

Read more: Cebu City downgraded to GCQ

Ligan said that although the strict security had eased up, it does not mean that the police would be less strict when it would come to reprimanding and arresting people who would violate the curfew, social distancing, wearing of face masks and other GCQ protocols.

“Our duties and functions still remain: To caution people to observe minimum standard requirement,” said Ligan.

Read more: Use of Cebu City’s Q passes still a must under GCQ

According to Ligan, these measures still needed to be implemented strictly as the public’s community consciousness on the importance of observing the protocols, has not gotten through them yet.

He said this was proven with the number of individuals still getting arrested despite the constant patrolling of the police on the streets.

Ligan said that just the end of July, they were able to arrest more than 800 individuals who violated health and curfew protocols.

He said that the policemen would continue to conduct patrols to be able to remind the public until they would be able to learn the importance of following the rules./dbs