The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) has noticed positive results on the first Sunday of the implementation of the number coding system for the food and medicines (FM) pass.
In an interview with the Davao City Disaster Radio, DCPO chief Col. Kirby John Kraft said there were only a handful of vehicles or individuals who went outside of their residences last Sunday.
The new guideline limits the use of the FM pass where residents can only go out on certain days based on an odd-even number scheme.
“The main groceries, supermarkets, and palengke (public markets) were also closed (on Sunday). So there is no reason for the people to go out during those times. The results have been good so far,” Kraft said.
However, the only challenge the DCPO has seen upon the implementation is within the inner puroks (sub-vilages).
“Some are still going outside of their residences,” he said, as he clarified that even sari-sari (sundry) stores should be closed on Sunday. “It (guideline) is very specific that all stores should be closed.”
As of Sunday, the DCPO has already caught 263 violators on the use of FM pass since its implementation on April 4.
Liquor Ban and Curfew
Kraft also lamented that they are still catching violators of the liquor ban and curfew in the city.
“If we can see on the statistics, there is a fluctuation. We cannot exactly determine the reason on why some days (apprehension) has more violators from other days. The point here is that there are still some who do not follow,” he said.
There are 608 violators of the curfew hours since March 20. The city government strictly implements the curfew hours from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Monday to Saturday. No one is permitted to go outside of their residences on Sunday.
A total of 120 violators had been recorded for violating the liquor ban of the city, while 69 individuals were violating the mass gathering and social distancing measures.
Currently, the DCPO filed 388 cases against the violators, as some of them were minors and had to be sent home instead. “We have to release them in accordance with the law. Either we turn them over to their parents or we turn them over to the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development,” he added.
The DCPO chief has reminded the public to follow the rules being implemented under the enhanced community quarantine, noting that authorities will immediately arrest those who will violate.
“All of the violators will be arrested. There are some arrested who were cuffed. It is in the police operational procedures. Once you are arrested, automatically, you will be handcuffed. So, if they do not want to be handcuffed, they should not violate our ECQ regulations,” he said.
