New holding areas for Cebu City quarantine violators opened

Violators of quarantine protocols are temporarily detained at the Tejero Gym in Cebu City. | Photo Courtesy of PROBE

CEBU CITY, Philippines — New holding areas for quarantine violators have been opened in Cebu City to reduce the number of violators temporarily detained at the Tejero Gym.

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has set up a holding area at Barangays Ermita, Labangon, and San Roque for the violators.

This came shortly after a netizen posted that with the violators and the law enforcers at the temporary detention facility at Barangay Tejero, they could barely practice the minimum health requirements.

Mayor Edgardo Labella has already instructed all offices involved in the operation of the holding area to maintain the protocols and bring order to the gym.

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For the EOC, the Tejero gym is simply too far for some violators to go to during temporary detention. Minors must be separated from adults as well.

The EOC has agreed with the Barangay San Roque to open a holding area for minors at their local gym so that the minors would have a separate area from the adult violators.

This is important as the city government will start to penalize the parents for the violations of their children soon. The parents will pay the fine or render community service for whatever the violation of their minor child has incurred.

“Dapat ang ginikanan kahibalo asa ang ilang mga anak. Dili kay ang gobyerno pay motrabaho ana (The parents should know where their children are. It should not be the government’s job),” said Councilor Joel Garganera, the deputy chief implementor of the EOC.

Furthermore, a holding area will also be opened in the Barangay Ermita gym for the violators in the Carbon Market. This way the market violators will no longer have to travel to the Tejero gym.

The Market Operations Division recently intensified its monitoring on shoppers and vendors of the market who failed to follow health protocols such as wearing of face masks.

Ermita Barangay Captain Mark Miral has authorized the use of the barangay gym for the holding area.

The last holding area has already been opened at Barangay Labangon for the quarantine violators from the South District so they will not have to travel to the North District as well.

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The EOC hopes that with more holding areas, the violators will not be concentrated at the Tejero gym alone and their transport will not take time as well.

Garganera also warned the public that if the number of violators would continue to rise, the penalty of P1,000 for first offense may be reimposed as compared to the current P500 compromise fee.

He also reminded violators that if they could not pay the fine, they might choose community service, but this would be entirely voluntary.

Garganera said that if they would refuse both fines and community service, then they would have to face court charges for violating quarantine protocols. /dbs

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