Not wearing a face mask ‘consistently’ top violation, says Sinas

Not wearing a face mask is consistently the top violation of the minimum public health standards to prevent COVID-19, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday.

"Based on data shown, the violation of non-wearing of face masks is consistently the number one violation committed by the public," PNP chief Police General Debold Sinas—who is accused of violating COVID-19 health rules himself, last year and earlier this month—said during President Rodrigo Duterte's talk to the nation on COVID-19 response on Wednesday night.

A chart showed by Sinas showed that from August 2020 to March 2021 to date, not wearing a mask was the top violation nationwide every month, except for September 2020, when there were 112,587 mask violations compared to 118,021 social distancing violations.

In Metro Manila, the number of mask violations compared to other violations was even more stark, peaking in November 2020, with 33,354 instances. It also consistently dominated the list of public health rules violations except in February 2021, when not wearing face shields topped the list with 15,584 violators.

From August 2020 until March 2021, the police recorded a total of 1,503,273 violations of minimum public health standards nationwide, including failing to  wear face masks and not social distancing.

In a Pulse Asia survey published last January, 71% of Filipinos said they washed their hands regularly while 66% said they wear face masks to prevent infection from the disease.

Meanwhile, 30% said they observe social distancing while 20% said they use face shields and avoid crowded areas. — Consuelo Marquez/BM, GMA News