I’M referring to members of the Philippine National Police tasked to man quarantine control and border control points in Metro Manila and the rest of the country who are regularly expose to the possibility of catching and transmitting the deadly COVID-19 virus.

Exposed almost daily under the elements and pollution, these policemen—bull-strong or not– have to perform their duties while raining or under the scorching heat of the sun which makes them more vulnerable to catching cough, colds and fever especially the middle-aged officers and the sickly ones.

Many of them also have to bear with the fact that they have no portable toilets to go in case they have to answer the call of nature. Thus, our poor policemen have to request the management of commercial establishments including fast-food restaurants to allow them to use their comfort rooms. In case they are lucky enough, some good-hearted local residents may also allow them to use their toilets but that is very rare.

These policemen also have to bring their own water dispensers and eat their packed meals away from each other inside their mostly dilapidated tents, many of which have been out there in the streets since March last year, exposed to dirt and grime caused by pollution and yes, the torrential rains.

However, these facts also go side by side with the daily observation that many of our policemen have been committing a number of infractions in the performance of their quarantine enforcement duties, some of them smoking cigarettes or simply talking with each other as if they have no job to do.

Another complaint is that they are always being observed by motorists using their mobile phones as if they are playing Mobile Legend or surfing the net. What happened to the PNP policy which bars the police from using their cell phones while on duty except when making official or emergency calls?

I am glad that PNP chief, General Gilor Eleazar and Joint Task Force COVID Shield commander and PNP Deputy Chief for Operations, Lieutenant Gen. Bong Dickson are both sensitive to calls and observation from motorists and netizens. However, these two fine officers and gentlemen need all the help they can get from their men and the rest of the general public in order to address concerns arising from the pandemic. We need a ‘whole-of-nation’ and a whole-of-public’ approach here, and most importantly, the need for all of us—policemen or not –to engage in ‘self-discipline’ since discipline should start from within us.

For one, a policeman who is discipling himself won’t pose no more trouble to the force. Another thing is that infractions being committed by policemen manning QCPs and BCPs may be corrected through an honest-to-goodness display of ‘small unit leadership’ and regular inspection of PNP Red Teams including those from the Internal Affairs Service 24/7.. On-the-spot corrections should be made here.

A police station commander told me the other day that he is very glad that people are airing their concerns to him. He said that in reality, the public should call the attention of PNP officials since all their efforts in enforcing quarantine rules will just go to naught if policemen manning their QCPs and BCPs will relax, just sit on their chairs, huddle with each other and use their cellphones as soon as their immediate superiors and inspectors are gone to attend to other official functions. As they always say, ‘when the cat is away, the mouse will always play.’

Lt. Gen. Dickson the other day told me he has ordered their field commanders to ensure that Enhanced or Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine guidelines will be fully implemented by their men manning QCPs and BCPs. This means that police must particularly ensure that public transport drivers passing thru their checkpoints are fully complying with the maximum passenger capacity allowed by the IATF.

As I see it, the problem lies on the failure of local police stations and local government units including barangay officials to field their men in bus, jeepney and tricycle terminals in order to check passenger limit. Sad to say, we don’t have enough traffic enforcers from LGUs as well as the LTO, LTFRB and the IACT who may be fielded daily to accost these violators right in their terminals or in the streets.

There is also the presence of our poor, undisciplined drivers. They says that ‘a hungry stomach knows no law’ but it should be made clear to members of the transport sector that they play a major role in helping curb down the spread of COVID-19 and its more deadly variants.

What is clear here is this: many drivers appear to be disciplined and following the law when police and other authorities are looking. If they follow the maximum passenger limit in a certain town or municipality since authorities are always on the lookout, they are sure to violate the same as soon as they are in another town or city where they are not being checked.

To illustrate: many jeepney Metro Manila-bound drivers from Antipolo City, Binangonan, Teresa, Taytay, Cainta and Angono, Rizal are known for violating the IATF directive and picking up as much passengers as they can since they are not being checked constantly by local government authorities.

However, once they pass thru Ortigas Extension or Marcos Highway on their way to Q.C., Pasig, Marikina and even EDSA, the public will think that police are not doing any effort to apprehend them despite the pandemic. Another thing is that if police will go after these fully-packed jeepneys, passengers from Rizal will for sure vent their ire on them.

Lt. Gen. Dickson, a teammate from the PNP Executive Basketball Team said that he and Gen. Eleazar want their men to full enforce MECQ guidelines especially to public transportation vehicles passing thru different QCPs and BCPs. He added that they have been showing pictures of gross violations among jeepney drivers to their personnel so that they will be made aware of the penchant of some drivers to violate the law in order to earn more income amid the present situation.

Gen. Eleazar has also ordered the Highway Patrol Group headed by Brigadier Gen. Alex Tagum to crack down on drivers of public transport vehicles violating government health protocols and accommodating passengers more than their allowed limit in NCR Plus. He gave the instruction amid numerous complaints regarding the wanton disregard of public transport drivers specifically jeepney and tricycle drivers on the ‘one-seat apart’ rule which means they are only allowed to have a 50-percent passenger capacity. This is where ‘self-discipline’ will come in.