In this June 2020 photo, cops man a border checkpoint between the cities of Cebu and Talisay.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Despite admitting being undermanned, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said it is ready to reimpose border controls as soon as the city government orders it.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, CCPO deputy director for operations, said that they will find personnel to be deployed in selected areas in Cebu City once the city government orders them to put up border controls again.
Parilla’s statement came after Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama said they plan to reimpose border controls if the city’s COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
READ: Cebu City mulls reimposing border controls
Parilla said that they have personnel from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) who are ready to be deployed to the city’s borders. He said that as of now, they have personnel assigned to their anti-criminality campaign and none to the borders yet.
Last July 30, a day before Cebu City was placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine, Parilla said that they had personnel in place to man at least five borders in the city. However, it was later withdrawn as per Rama’s order.
For the meantime, Parilla said that they will deploy police personnel at the South Bus Terminal after receiving reports of violations committed by both passengers and bus drivers.
He added that as they continue their inspection and monitoring of Public Utility Vehicles in Cebu City, they are also eyeing to place personnel to monitor the exit points of the terminal.
He added that they are also willing to coordinate with the provincial cops since the terminal is under the jurisdiction of Cebu Province.
/bmjo