Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, CCPO deputy director for operations. | file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — For the government, the curfew set in Cebu City has helped prevent the rise of COVID-19 cases.
For the police, the curfew also helps keep incidents of crimes low at night.
This was the statement of Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, the deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), following the lifting of the curfew in Metro Manila.
The Cebu City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has already released a statement that they do not wish for the curfew to be lifted because the city just came out of a third surge and has just barely recovered.
READ: Cebu City EOC wants to keep curfew
The CCPO echoed the EOC’s statements, saying that best course of action for now is to maintain the curfew until most establishments have adjusted to the eased restrictions.
“Ang stand sa atong CCPO according to our City Director, Colonel Josefino Ligan, we prefer nga magpabilin ang curfew kay ang curfew usa sa dakong tabang nga napaubos nato ang COVID-19 cases,” said Parilla.
Most importantly, since crimes are generally expected to rise during the holiday season, the curfew would significantly reduce the crime incidents.
The curfew allows the police to set up checkpoints at night and monitor the movement of the public, thereby reducing the chances for lawless individuals to strike their chance on committing crimes.
“Less ang opportunity nga mabiktima atong katawhan especially sa theft, robbery nga kaso, kaning snatching. As of now, duna tay average nga 12 (robbery) cases per week,” said Parilla.
The CCPO notes that on some days, police stations do not even have reported cases of robbery, a significant improvement to what has been a long occurence of criminal activities during the holiday season.
The CCPO understands that more economic activities can be triggered with the lifting of the curfew, but Parilla notes that while ordinary people with no important reason to go out must stay at home during curfew, the economic activities such as production and delivery of goods continue to operate even during the curfew.
For the next two weeks, the CCPO will monitor the status of the city including the movement of the public to determine a much more contextualized recommendation to the acting mayor.
Yet if the CCPO is to be consulted, they would rather keep the curfew until the end of the holidays so that not only COVID-19 cases will be prevented but crimes as well.
/bmjo