Campaign vs. loitering yields positive results, says QCPD chief

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) believes that its intensified campaign against loitering has yielded significant results in the combating of criminality in the area.

In a media forum in Manila on Sunday, QCPD director Chief Superintendent Joselito Esquivel Jr. said he has been receiving positive feedback on their campaign.

"Kasi dati, sa Visayas [Avenue], magulo. May chaos. May kumakanta rito, may nakahubad dito. Ngayon medyo malinis na," he said.

"Tapos less na rin 'yung incidents ng snatching. Nabawasan na rin kasi ito 'yun e, kung walang pang-inom, gagawa ng crimes," he added.

The intensified campaign against loitering began after President Rodrigo Duterte gave an order to go after those whom he viewed as “potential trouble for the public."

As many as 7,000 individuals have been accosted supposedly for violating city ordinances around Metro Manila.

Esquivel, however, reported that the number of their arrests have slowly diminished.

From 300 in its first few days, the number has decreased to 80 to 100, he said.

In fact, the police operation on Saturday night, he said, only apprehended 82 individuals. Only five of them were actually charged.

Most of those whom the police have apprehended violated ordinances on jaywalking, smoking in public, going shirtless and drinking in public, he added.

Esquivel pointed out that small infractions to the law would lead to more serious crimes.

"'Yung maliit na krimen, nanganganak. Ngayon, nababawasan na. Medyo okay na 'yung mga area," he said.

Despite this, the progressive Makabayan bloc of the House of Representatives have filed a resolution seeking to investigate the mass arrests of loiterers following a verbal directive from Duterte. —KG, GMA News