Checkpoints and curfew will be part of the “new normal”
MANILA – There will be checkpoints and curfew will still be implemented under the “new normal.” This was how Police Lt. General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield views the coming easing of community quarantine restrictions.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, General Eleazar said the checkpoints and curfew will be part of the practice until a vaccine is introduced to the general public which may take at least two years.
The coronavirus remains a continuous threat to the population.
“President Rodrigo Duterte has allowed the lifting of some restrictions in order to re-open the economy and turn the situation into the most normal as possible because we cannot afford to have strict quarantine rules at the expense of our economy and our people,” said General Eleazar.
Despite the lifting of some restrictions, the minimum health standards will still be implemented.
The Philippine National Police personnel will man two kinds of checkpoints, one through the Quarantine Control Points (QCPs) and the Dedicated Control Points (DCPs) for cargo and delivery trucks and the mobile checkpoints where random check in any part of the work for private vehicles.
There are 4,398 QCPs and 115 DCPs across the country. The QCPs are manned and supervised by the police and the military while DCPs are manned and supervised by the PNP Highway Patrol Group (HPG). The DCPs will be complemented by motorcycle-riding personnel under OPLAN Habol.
“We appeal to the public to get used to these checkpoints and curfew as part of the new normal. This is not about restraining their rights, this is all about ensuring the protection of everybody from coronavirus,” General Eleazar concluded. (Melo M. Acuña)
Police Lt. General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar. IJTF COVID Shield Photo)
留言