Davao City – The Davao City enforcement cluster heightened its personnel visibility to man convergence areas and strictly enforce COVID-19 protocols as hundreds more face masks and social distancing violators were logged from December 31, 2021 to January 8, 2022.
Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) Chief, Retired Police Lt. Col. Angel Sumagaysay, bared this in a phone interview with the City Information Office (CIO) on Wednesday, January 12, 2021.
From 62,902 face mask violators on December 31, 2021, the number surged to 63,531 as of January 8, 2022, while the number of social distancing/mass gathering violators increased from 43,957 on December 31, 2021, to 44,360 on January 8, 2022.
“I-reiterate og ginaremind nato ang enforcement cluster nga strengthen ang implementation sa COVID-19 guidelines tungod sa new variant. It seems increasing atong cases, naapektuhan gyud ta based on the presentation of the City Health Office, ni Dr. Ashley Lopez (We reiterate and remind our enforcement cluster to implement the COVID-19 guidelines due to the new variant. It seems our COVID-19 cases are increasing based on the presentation of Dr. Ashley Lopez of the City Health Office (CHO),” Sumagaysay said.
He said that some Dabawenyos may have forgotten that wearing of face mask and social distancing are strictly being enforced in the city.
The City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO), according to him, also issues citation tickets to erring public utility vehicles (PUV) drivers who continue taking on passengers despite violating the physical distancing protocol.
Sumagaysay added, “Individual call ni madisiplina pud nila ang ilang kaugaliungon kay tungod sa Alert Level 2, ang restrictions medyo niluag. Ang akoa lang unta, wala unta’y madakpan, ibig sabihin naging compliant o obedient sa guidelines sa national government. Gasakit dughan ko nga daghan ang madakpan kay grabe ang hasol ana sa ilaha, mu-attend sila og hearing if di mabayran ang penalty. Dapat ikaw na magdisiplina sa sarili nimo (This is an individual call for people to discipline themselves since with Alert Level 2, restrictions have eased. I just hope nobody will be apprehended and that would mean everybody is compliant or obedient to the guidelines of the national government. My heart aches for those caught violating protocols as it would bring them a huge hassle by attending hearing when they could not pay the fine). You must discipline yourself.”
He also called on parents to have their children wear face masks whenever they leave their homes.
Sumagaysay added that they have also coordinated with mall security managers to implement the mandatory wearing of face masks and social distancing for both adults and children. However, since children cannot be charged or apprehended for being minors, they can only remind the parents.
The PSSCC head also said that tourist police, police, and soldiers are visible, not just in malls, public markets, churches, private and public bus and van terminals, but also other convergence points.
“Maximize gyud ang pagdeploy sa mga tropa. Dapat mag-adjust-adjust pud ta kabalo ta dako ang Davao City, naa pud ta’y vaccination rollout, swabbing centers, and business permit renewals (Troop deployment is being maximized. We need to adjust since Davao City is so huge, we also have vaccination rollout, swabbing centers, and business permit renewals),” he added.
From May 16, 2020, to January 8, 2022, a total of 178,170 violators (curfew, liquor ban, social distancing, face mask, face shield, prohibition of billiard game, fake RT-PCR, and non-essential) were apprehended with 11,525 cases filed.
(Source: Davao City Information Office)
