A total of 19,408 individuals have been apprehended for violating COVID-19 health protocols in Bacolod City from January 1 to May 31, 2021.
Police Lt. Col. Lester Leada, head of Operations Management Unit of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), said that 6,536 were caught not wearing face masks and 4,726 were caught not wearing face shields, especially while riding public utility vehicles.
A total of 4,644 individuals were apprehended for violating the curfew ordinance and 1,799 for violating the liquor ban.
Also apprehended were 1,703 individuals for failing to comply with the one-meter physical distancing requirement.
From May 17 to May 30 alone, the BCPO has issued 2,305 citation tickets to protocol violators in Bacolod.
Personnel of Police Stations 1 to 10, along with the operatives of Mobile Patrol Unit, Bacolod City Mobile Force Company and Traffic Enforcement Unit, conducted the apprehension operations.
Moreover, the BCPO continues to raise awareness among grassroots constituents in Bacolod regarding the risk of getting infected with COVID-19.
For the past weeks, the BCPO has conducted 634 ricoridas.
Part of their education campaign is to inform and to educate the public of the minimum health protocols, like wearing of face masks and face shields and observing one-meter physical distance.
From May 17 to May 30, the BCPO also conducted 482 random checkpoints.
Leada said that the violators were not taken into custody but were given citation tickets and warned. He added that they could not take the violators into custody as their detention facilities are already full.
The BCPO is urging the public to abide by minimum health protocols to avoid getting fined or being made to do community service.
Those caught violating the health protocols are fined P200 each if they are from Bacolod, and P300 for out-of-towners, based on the city ordinance./WDJ