Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, chief of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said that they would recommend to continue implementing curfew, liquor ban and control points in the city even as the quarantine status of the city would be downgraded. | Pegeen Maisie Sararaña
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Despite the downgrade of the city’s quarantine status to general community quarantine (GCQ) starting Sept. 8, Cebu City Police Office or CCPO will still recommend that some restrictions when the city was under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) will still be implemented.
Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, CCPO chief, said that this would include implementing the liquor ban, curfew, stay-at-home order, and setting up control points.
Ligan also said that policemen deployed in the interior portion of the barangays would remain in their posts while he would await the new executive order to be issued by acting Mayor Michael Rama as the city would downgrade to GCQ status.
He said those policemen would continue to implement the stay-at-home order of the city government.
He also said he would review the new EO when issued by the acting mayor with his 11 police station chiefs and discuss what action to take then.
He, however, reiterated that he would still want the strict implementation of some quarantine protocols under the MECQ to continue.
He said that the strict implementation of these restrictions had helped bring down the COVID-19 cases in the city.
He cited in earlier reports areas under the Carbon Police Station, where they had many apprehensions of quarantine violators, had lesser COVID cases.
He also said that when the quarantine status downgrade would happen people would tend to be not be compliant with the protocols.
“Ang tendency nga wa na tay kapolisan sa kadalanan, ang mga tawo mag kumpyansa gyud. Mu relax gyud, mu take chance gyud nag gawas. Di na mag-mask, ang katong di mga essentials, manggawas gyud na,” Ligan said.
(If there are no more policemen monitoring our streets, people will tend to become complacent (on following health protocols). They will also relax and take a chance to go outside. They will no longer wear masks and those who are non essential workers will go outside also.)
Aside from contiuing to implement the city government’s stay-at-home order.
Ligan said he would recommend to the city’s Emergency Operations Center that they would continue the 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew and the liquor ban.
He said that these measures had helped bring down the cases of COVID-19 in the city during MECQ.
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