COVID Shield doubles police force deployment during holiday season

Joint Task Force COVID Shield commander Police Lieutenant General Cesar Hawthorne Binag said Sunday that the number cops deployed for the holiday season is doubled to ensure citizen compliance with the minimum health rules.  

Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV, Binag  also said that more police personnel were designated in crowded areas.

“'Yung ating mga pulis, katulad ng binanggit ko dati, talagang doble na 'yung kanilang deployment lalo na doon sa matataong lugar.” 

Some of the additional police teams were deployed to make an assessment on people's compliance with health protocols to avert further transmission of COVID-19.

Binag said recommendations from the assessment will be forwarded to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Debold Sinas and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año for proper action.

“Ibigay namin sa aming hepe si Chief PNP at isa-submit kay Secretary Año ang aming mga rekomendasyon para lalo pa natin mapa-igting ang pagpapatupad ng ating mga protocol,” he said.

According to Binag, the assessment focuses on the role of the police, establishment owners, and event organizers in implementing minimum health standards against the pandemic.

“Ang pulis, papasok ito sa enforcement side, hindi para ipatupad, kundi kung meron nag-violate doon aming sasabihan papaalalahanan,” Binag pointed out.

“Pero sa simula pa lang, 'yung may-ari ng establishment, at ang organizers ng activities na isinasagawa, sila dapat ang unang-unang nagpapatupad nito,” he added.

Earlier, the Department of Health (DOH) and OCTA Research team warned against a surge in the number of COVID cases in the country during and after the holiday season.

Several hospitals and medical personnel are preparing for the possible surge to ensure they will be able to manage the new patients with coronavirus infection.

As of Saturday, the DOH has reported a total of 458,044 COVID-19 cases with 1,491 new infections. At least 421,086 patients have already recovered, while 28,047 are still active cases.

A total of 8,911 people have already died due to the disease based DOH's latest tally. —LBG, GMA News