Police Lt. General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar (Joint Task Force Covid-19 Shield Photo)
Police officers across the country have been instructed to check all private vehicles for possible violation of home quarantine rules.
Lt. General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, Joint Task Force Covid-19 Shield commander, said the PNP chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa, had instructed regional directors to take appropriate measures to ensure that home quarantine and social distancing rules are observed at all times.
“The expansion of the operations against these private vehicles which may have Unauthorized Persons Outside Residence (UPOR) inside is part of our Chief PNP’s order to further intensify measures against hardheaded people,” Eleazar said in a statement released Sunday afternoon.
Should it be found that private vehicles were being driven by or carrying unauthorized persons and were out on non-essential travel, Eleazar said policemen would issue a Temporary Operator’s Permit or Ordinance Violation Receipt, and other citation tickets to the drivers.
“All the violators will be penalized,” he added.
Earlier, Eleazar ordered the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) to conduct mobile checkpoints along EDSA and other major roads of Metro Manila and deploy motorcycle-riding policemen, after a sudden influx of private vehicles.
HPG Director Brig. General Eliseo Cruz said they had apprehended more than 100 vehicles for violating quarantine guidelines.
Eleazar ordered the HPG to conduct operations daily, especially in Metro Manila were most violations take place.
Police operations will also be conducted in areas where bystanders and local residents converge.
The task force’s Mobile Command Center will be utilized to monitor and do intelligence-gathering in areas where home quarantine and social distancing rules are not observed.
The mobile facility is a self-contained and integrated command and control vehicle with the latest audio and video communication facilities, including drones.
People who will be apprehended will be charged through electronic inquest (e-inquest) of the Department of Justice or through regular filing. (Melo M. Acuña)