More ‘mobile’ checkpoints in Metro Manila under GCQ

Published May 29, 2020, 3:07 PM

To prepare for the influx of people, additional police mobile checkpoints will be established along major roads and thoroughfares — such as EDSA — now that a general community quarantine (GCQ) will be implemented in Metro Manila come June 1.

Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, commander of Joint Task Force (JTF) on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Shield, said on Friday that they are expecting more people to go outside of their houses since more industries were allowed to operate again under the GCQ.

“Our role is to see to it that only those authorized persons are outside and one way to do that is to sustain the checkpoints, but we have modified it,” he said in a televised Laging Handa briefing.

The Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) has been conducting mobile checkpoints through its “Oplan Habol” and “Oplan Sita” where motorcycle-riding patrollers roam around to check for “unauthorized persons outside residence” (UPOR) or violators in private vehicles, somehow different from the usual fixed checkpoints.

“Depending on the discretion of the commanders on the ground, we can have lesser fixed checkpoints and adjust the mobile checkpoints,” Eleazar said.

At present, he said a total of 4,398 quarantine checkpoints (QCPs) and 115 dedicated checkpoints (DCPs) were established nationwide.

The QCPs are jointly manned by the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) while HPG personnel guard the DCPs.

Further, Eleazar stressed that individuals are still prohibited from crossing border cities in Metro Manila, unless they are medical health workers, other frontliners, or workers in permitted industries under the GCQ.

“You can only go out to avail goods and services in establishments permitted within your locality. Do not cross borders, stay in your own areas only. You will not be allowed to pass through checkpoints,” he said.

The implementation of curfew hours will also be retained as stated in the omnibus guidelines crafted by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Managing Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), Eleazar said.

“Our kababayan (fellowmen) should be aware of the provisions of curfew guidelines in their areas because it varies,” he stated.

Back-riding in motorcycles, on the other hand, will remain prohibited as it violates physical distancing.

Since ECQ was implemented, Eleazar said there was a notable 59-percent decrease in the country’s crime volume compared to the past 73 days before the lockdown began.

The total number of crimes went down by as much as 64 percent in Luzon, 56 percent in Visayas and 50 percent in Mindanao, he added.

Nonetheless, Eleazar urged the public to continuously observe health protocols even if Metro Manila will start to ease its quarantine protocols.

“If you have no essential things to do, just remain in your houses. If you go outside for leisure and you join the inlux of people, chances are you might get infected and you will infect somebody,” he said.

SOURCE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/29/more-mobile-checkpoints-in-metro-manila-under-gcq/