Arce: Lack of Qpasses still top quarantine violation in Cebu City

Quarantine violators were made to render community service by cleaning the floor of the Pasil Fish Market in Cebu City on Sunday, November 22. | Photo courtesy of Raquel Arce

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Going out of their homes without having to carry the required quarantine passes (Qpasses) continues to top the list of quarantine violations in Cebu City.

Raquel Arce, chief of the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement (PROBE) Team, said that her office logged more violations of this nature after Mayor Edgardo Labella ordered the strict reimplementation of health and safety protocols here following the recent spike in cases of the coronavirus disease.

“There’s a slight increase [in the number of violators]. [But] it’s not dramatic compared to the triple-digit number of violators we caught when the city was first downgraded to GCQ (general community quarantine),” Arce told CDN Digital in Cebuano.

Arce said they round up an average of 30 quarantine violators per day and most of these individuals were found to lack quarantine passes.

“We anticipated this and we understand this considering the limited number of Qpasses that were distributed,” she added.

READ: IN PHOTOS: Quarantine violators ‘request’ community service instead of paying fine

Cebu City was placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), the most relaxed form of community quarantine, since September. But despite the easing of quarantine restrictions, the city government decided to retain the requirement on the use of Qpasses when city residents go out of their respective homes.

With the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, Labella reiterated the need to comply with health and safety protocols including the need for Qpasses.

Labella has also ordered the revival of the city’s number-coding scheme.

As of November 22, Cebu City’s active COVID-19 cases stood at 371 after logging 22 new patients with the infection. / dcb