Labangon police are deployed at night to monitor compliance with the city’s curfew ordinance. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The implementation of Oplan Bulabog in Cebu City is like “hitting two birds with one stone.”
Police Major Janelito Marquez, chief of Labangon Police Station, said this is a means to ensure compliance with health and safety protocols while the city remains under Alert Level 3 due to rising COVID-19 cases. At the same time, this is also a good crime deterrence.
However, Marquez admitted that to date, many of the Cebuanos continue to ignore the implementation of Oplan Bulabog here as manifested in the number of apprehensions that they make especially on weekends.
The number of apprehensions is also an indication that many remain complacent despite the spike in COVID cases in the city.
Marquez said they are able to round up an average of 20 to 30 violators per night.
On Saturday, Labangon police rounded up a total of 53 violators. Of these, 44 violated the city’s curfew ordinance while nine others left their homes without wearing the required face masks.
Labangon Police Station covers Barangays Buhisan, Labangon, Punta Princesa, Quiot, Pardo, Tisa, and To-ong in Cebu City’s south district.
Marquez said the increase in their weekend apprehensions was due to of the arrival of the augmentation team from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion in Central Visayas (RMFB-7).
A total of 18 of the 114 RMFB-7 personnel were deployed to help Labangon police.
With the help that they are now getting, Marquez said, they hope to consistently implementation Oplan Bulabog in their area of jurisdiction 24/7.
He is confident that police visibility will already be enough warning for residents to stay at home if they do not have an important business outside.
Labangon police are working in coordination with barangay peace security officers and force multipliers especially when they visit the interior of the seven barangays that are within their jurisdiction.
While they do this, they are also sending criminals a stern warning that the police are ready for them.
Although he was unable to provide figures, Marquez said, they noticed a drop in crime in their AOR since they started the implementation of Oplan Bulabog.
From January 1 to 22, 2022, they only logged one theft, a few traffic related incidents and some cases of physical injuries that were reported at their police station.
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