THE Philippine National Police (PNP) said the number of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) violators was reduced by about half following the deployment of more policemen, including members of the Special Action Force (SAF).
Based on the records of the Joint Task Force coronavirus disease (Covid) Shield, only 1,585 violators were apprehended across the country on April 23.
The number is about 52 percent lower than the 3,306 recorded a day earlier, or on April 22.
"The reduction was mostly recorded in Luzon where most SAF commandos and soldiers were deployed," said Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, JTF Covid Shield commander and PNP deputy chief for operations.
From 2,313 reported in Luzon on April 22, the number of violators went down to 1,152 on April 23, according to Eleazar.
From April 23 up to April 25, Eleazar said the number of violators was fewer than 2,000, as follows, 1,488 on April 24 and 1,811 on April 25.
"We attribute this significant decrease in the number of violators recorded in the past few days to stricter implementation of the ECQ Guideline through the deployment of our SAF troopers and soldiers and also when our HPG personnel started running after private vehicles," said Eleazar.
"We are monitoring the situation on the ground on a daily basis in order to make immediate and necessary security adjustments in any area where any increase of ECQ violators were monitored," he added.
The PNP has adopted a zero tolerance policy in the implementation of ECQ protocols on orders of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Violators are immediately arrested or fined. (VoxPop Philippines)