ACTING on instructions of President Rodrigo Duterte, new Philippine National Police chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar yesterday ordered his men to accost and bring to their station individuals who are defying the government’s strict directive to properly wear face masks in public.

The 26th PNP chief instructed the police to apprehend people who are loitering the streets without face masks on or those who are not wearing them properly and take them to their station for recording purpose.

First-time offenders will be given warnings while those who have committed 2nd, 3rd or more offenses face fine or need to perform community service as required by local government units.

Eleazar said his directive is for all police regional offices to continue to implement existing laws, local ordinances and policy on public health concerns especially minimum public health standards imposed thru resolutions passed by the IATF-MEID for implementation by government agencies and local government units.

He issued the statement amid a directive from Duterte for the police to arrest people who are not wearing face masks and even face shields properly in the streets.

The top cop said these include observance of basic health protocols that require the proper use of face mask, face shield, and physical distancing in public places, and specific provisions of Republic Act No. 11332, or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.

As a procedure, all persons cited for such violation of local ordinances and other laws shall be subject to investigation and booking purposes, PNP spokesman, Brigadier Gen. Ronaldo E. Olay said.

“If the person is found to have an outstanding warrant of arrest, he will be detained,” he explained.

If the violation requires that the person be subjected to inquest proceedings, he/she will be presented before an inquest prosecutor accordingly, particularly in cases of disobedience to person in authority, or direct assault.

If the violation does not require inquest proceedings, the offender will be issued a citation ticket pursuant to violation of city/municipal ordinance; and if found to be a repeat offender, and the ordinance provides for a heavier penalty or filing of a case in court, the same will be implemented.

Olay noted that some local ordinances provide reprimand for the first offense while other local ordinances impose fines or jail time. He added that if the ordinance violation provides penalty of detention, a case will be filed against the violator and proper booking procedure is mandatory for record purposes in case the person will be cited for the same violation in the future during which appropriate penalties for repeat offenders will apply.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it is coordinating with the PNP and different LGUs to prevent possible abuses by the police in the enforcement of the presidential directive.

The PNP earlier said that crimes against persons and property went down last month during the strict implementation of the Enhanced and later Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine in NCR Plus Bubble and the rest of the country.

PNP Director for Operations, Major General Alfred S. Corpus said they also recorded a downtrend in COVID-19 cases in the NCR Plus Bubble amid the strict enforcement of the ECQ and MECQ protocols which fully aided in the government response to contain the reproduction of the killer virus in Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.

Corpus said that even the independent OCTA research group confirmed the reduction in the COVID-19 cases in the past week, actually 20 percent lower than that of the previous week.

“Those remarkable gains is largely due to the strict observance of minimum health standards and we appeal to the public to sustain the positive gains and continue to bear with us. Please stay in your homes and lessen your movement if you’re not an authorized person,” the official said.

Corpus said as of last Monday, a total of 70,603 individuals have been apprehended for violation of minimum health protocols imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

They include 43,401 persons who were accosted for not wearing face masks in public; 16,969 for not wearing face shield; 150 for defying the rule against mass gathering; and 6,362 for non-observance of social distancing.

Corpus said that of the violators, a total of 22,222 were arrested; 13,333 were warned while 166 were ordered to pay fines imposed by local government units

The official said that a total of 44,250 curfew violators were also accosted during the period of which 27,763 were warned; 14,904 were ordered to pay fines; and 1,583 told to perform community service. He added that the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has passed a resolution adopting a uniform 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew in Metro Manila starting last Saturday.

Corpus said that since Sinas ordered the full implementation of the MECQ in NCR Plus Bubble, 71 Quarantine Control Points manned by 973 personnel from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and the Police Regional Offices 3 and 4-A have been put up to restrict the movement of the people to help curve the transmission of the virus.

The NCRPO headed by Major Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. has 35 QCPs in Metro Manila being manned by 338 personnel daily while there are 24 QCPs in Bulacan with 188 personnel; and 12 QCPs in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna and Rizal with 398 policemen assigned in those areas daily.

Corpus said they are also a total of 188 law enforcement checkpoints in those areas being manned by a total of 1,706 policemen daily. A total of 17,427 PNP personnel have also been tasked to secure the transport and delivery of the vaccines nationwide while another 9,744 are securing the different vaccination sites nationwide.