Task force kasaligan closing ceremony. | photo by Police Colonel Ligan
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Task Force Kasaligan (Kaluwasan sa mga Amigo Cops ug Sugbuanon Ang Gusto sa Atong Liderato nga Ipatuman Gumikan sa hulga sa COVID-19 Alang Natong Tanan) were instructed to start arresting violators along Cebu City’s streets this week.
This was what Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, chief of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) told the reporters in a phone conference this morning, September 14, 2020.
Ligan said that he had already directed the TF Kasaligan members to exercise the authority given to them to arrest citizens who would not heed warnings about their violation, and those who would continue to violate the implemented health protocols.
“I have instructed our station commanders that all our force multipliers naa sila kauban nga police. They are allowed to make arrests especially katong mga gahig ulo nga bisag badlungon na mo tubag-tubag pa kana nga ing ana nga attitude,” said Ligan.
(I have instructed our station commanders that all our force multipliers should be accompanied by policemen. They are allowed to make arrests especially those who are hardheaded people that even if they were already warned they would still argue with the policemen and the TF Kasaligan recruits. Those are the ones with that attitude that we would arrest.)
A total of 128 TF Kasaligan were assigned under Police Stations 4 or Mabolo Police Station, Police Station 10 or Labangon Police Station and Police Station 11 or the Mambaling Police Station, which were the stations identified with the most number of new cases in recent contact tracing.
Read: Test results cut number of healthy TF Kasaligan recruits to 128
Ligan said that since the deployment of the Task Force last Friday, there were no reports yet of residents their assigned areas who resisted warnings during patrols and recorrida. No arrests were yet made over the weekend.
Aside from implementing health protocols, Ligan said that one of the duties of the Task Force Kasaligan was also to be alert about criminal activities that could happen in the areas they were assigned to.
Ligan said that the presence of the Task Force Kasaligan were also for crime deterrence.