By Jennifer P. Rendon
Police officers in Western Visayas could not hide their exasperation as the number of curfew violators continues to pile a week into the implementation of the rule.
As of 5 a.m. of March 27, 2020, Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) reported that 1,844 were arrested for curfew violations, an increase of more than 300 from the previous day’s 1,501.
Bacolod City topped the most arrests with 744 while Negros Occidental have 424; Iloilo City with 381; and Iloilo province with 114.
Aklan province has 74; Antique with 69; Capiz with 37; and Guimaras with a single violation.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson, said they cannot help but feel frustrated.
“Our policemen had made rounds days before the curfew was enforced. But some people chose to defy it,” she said.
Malong said they could have utilized their manpower for more important duties other than doing saturation drive for curfew violators.
She noted that a good number of curfew violators thought that having a quarantine pass is a permit for them to go out of their house any time they want.
“They were apparently unaware that the quarantine pass is for them go out of their house to buy essential things and attend to important transactions,” she said.
Without a law or an ordinance, however, they could not possibly impose sanctions.
“If there is an ordinance with penalties imposed, we would enforce it,” Malong said.
