Police chief: 1K Lapu-Lapu violators caught for not wearing face masks

Police Colonel Arnel Banzon, Lapu-Lapu City Police Office chief |CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — More than 1,000 Lapu-Lapu City residents caught for not wearing face masks make up the bulk of the 2,504 health protocol violators in the city, who were apprehended from August 1 to 7

Police Colonel Arnel Banzon, Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LCPO) chief, said that they recorded 1,153 violators, who did not wear any face masks, followed by 710 residents apprehended for violating the city’s curfew.

Other violators included the 494 residents caught for improperly wearing the face masks, 141 for violating social distancing rules, and 6 for violating liquor ban.

Banzon said the violators were apprehended during patrols in the city’s interior areas.

He said that they had been intensifying patrols in these areas since the city had been placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from August 1 to 15.

He also said that the increasing trend of violators would show that the residents here continued to become complacent despite the countless recorrida in all areas in the city informing residents about the health protocols.

As more violators were apprehended, he said that they (police) would continue to patrol these areas together with the help of force multipliers there.

He also said that violators would also be asked to pay a P1,000 fine or do community service work.

For those who would opt for community service, they would be endorsed to their respective barangays, whose officials would provide them with their tasks to accomplish.

“Naa silay murag sako nga ipapuno nila og basura. Once mapuno to siya, pwede na (marelease), but depende pa,” Banzon said.

(They have this sack that they need to fill with garbage. Once they would be done with it, they will be released, but then it would still depend [on the barangay officials])

Meanwhile, Banzon said he believed that the increasing trend of violators would continue.

“Naa pa gihapon na nga (instance) nga fluctuating gihapon ang figures niya. So ang pagsabot ani, kinahanglan pa gyud ta mupasabot sa mga tawo (people) kulang sa pagsabot, kulang sa cooperation,” Banzon said.

(We still see the fluctuating figures in our data. This means that we still need to convince people, who still lack understanding and cooperation.)

With this, Banzon can only attribute this trend to complacency of the residents with regard to following health protocols and the strict implementation of the police on these protocols.

He also made the call to residents to help the police and cooperate by observing and following health protocols.

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