Cebu City police to take note of schedules of barangay fiestas to monitor for possible ECQ violations

Members of the Special Action Force are assigned to an area in Basak San Nicolas in Cebu City on Monday, June 29, 2020. | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Despite Cebu City being under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), there were still some individuals who violated the guidelines such as those from barangays Basak San Nicolas and Calamba, who went out of their houses to attend gatherings on the streets for their respective fiesta celebrations.

Because of this, Police Colonel Cydric Earl Tamayo, officer-in-charge of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), has come up with an idea of listing all the dates of barangay fiestas so they can monitor these places for possible ECQ violations.

“The station commanders already submitted the dates of their area’s fiestas so we would be able to monitor them and patrol the area a day before the actual fiesta,” said Tamayo.

Read: Police prepare charges against those identified in ‘fiesta celebration’ in Cebu City barangay

Tamayo said that some residents are able to violate protocols after taking the chance when the police leave a specific area to patrol another place.

He admitted that there are not enough policemen  to cover all the areas in the city, which may be the reason why there are still those who dare to violate health protocols.

With this, Tamayo said that they could only ask the public to simply follow and cooperate since this is all for the good of the city.

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“We appeal to the public to please just follow the rules as violating these rules would only lead to us all suffering. Let us not wait to be infected by COVId-19 before we realize what we did wrong,” said Tamayo. /bmjo