PNP: 117,000 MECQ 'violators' recorded since August 21
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police on Monday said it has recorded 117,000 quarantine "violators" in Metro Manila since it shifted to modified enhanced community quarantine.
Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the PNP, told dzBB that some 13,000 on average were being apprehended in the capital region per day.
That number, he said, is from August 21 to August 29.
The government placed Metro Manila under MECQ until September 7, but much of the restrictions from ECQ have remained.
Such curbs were implemented as the country grapples with record-high coronavirus cases, with the 19,441 on August 28 the highest since the pandemic hit.
Experts have suggested this uptick may be driven by the presence of more infectious COVID-19 variants, such as the Delta which has infected 1,789 to date.
In the NCR Plus — or the capital region along with Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan, Eleazar said the average was at 41,000.
Nationwide, he added it was at 61,000 in the last nine days.
The PNP chief said majority of those in NCR or 61% got warnings, 33% were fined, and 5% were brought to police stations for other offenses.
"Overall, we're averaging 80% who were warned for the entire country and 14% were issued tickets," Eleazar said in Filipino.
He added incidents of non-compliance to health protocols such as not wearing face mask and face shield are among the incidents, as well as violations of mass gathering.
As Metro Manila continues to be under MECQ, Eleazar said there would be no changes in PNP's implementing protocols.
The Philippines is nearing two million coronavirus cases in total. Its current count is at 1.954 million.
Active cases as of August 29 were at 143,221, while deaths have since climbed to 33,109.
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