Belmonte vows there'll be no indiscriminate arrests of quarantine violators in QC

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Tuesday labeled as "fake news" the social media posts that say the local government is implementing indiscriminate arrests of quarantine violators.

"Ito po ay isang fake news na masasabi ko kasi ito ay ikinalat via social media," Belmonte said at the Laging Handa public briefing.

Belmonte clarified that the Quezon City government issued, together with its quarantine protocols, rules of court and rules of procedures to avoid abuse by law enforcement agencies.

Belmonte cited the incident of a fish vendor who was beaten up by barangay watchmen at the South Triangle for violating quarantine regulations.

"I didn't want that to happen again. Gusto ko po na maiwasan 'yan ulit kung kaya't nag-issue po tayo ng guidelines para maliwanag po sa ating enforcers kung ano po ang dapat nilang gawin kapag sila ay nag-i-issue ng arrests," she said.

"It is in fact a tool to avoid abuse of power rather than the opposite," she added, as she called on those spreading misleading information to refrain from doing so.

"I would like to reassure the people of Quezon City that our city observes maximum tolerance. These enforcement actions of ours against erring, violating people will be done only in extreme cases, kung talagang nakakasakit na o nakakaapekto na sa kapwa at nagiging sagabal na sa public health, and there will be no abuse of authority under this administration," Belmonte said. —KBK, GMA News