By Ric Sakai III
WITH the national police now on lessened assignments of securing communities in lockdowns and ensure quarantine measures and protocols are followed, Philippine National Police director Lieutenant General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar has ordered all ground commanders in Metro Manila to start shifting their focus on measures against criminality.
In a statement, the PNP chief rationalized his directive as a shift for the police to fully perform in their mandate of serving and protecting the public against criminal elements even as the Covid-19 alert status in the metropolis has been downgraded to level 2, which he added could encourage criminals to go back to their illegal activities, “Inatasan ko na ang lahat ng aming unit commanders na lalo pang paigtingin ang kampanya laban sa kriminalidad dahil tiyak ko na isa sa mga nabuhayan ng loob ay ang mga kriminal na gustong bumalik sa dating gawi,” he noted in the vernacular.
Eleazar, who is expected to retire this month as the country’s top cop, also clarified that the move is aimed at protecting more people from the crises, especially now that many would still be recovering from hardships that entailed pandemic restrictions.
“Focusing on anti-crime measures would also be timely as more people are expected to go out on the days leading to the Holiday Season,” he stressed.
“I am expecting all our unit commanders especially in Metro Manila to adopt the best practices that were implemented at the height of the pandemic restrictions in order to restrict the movement of criminal elements, especially motorcycle-riding criminals,” he added.
As a measure to ensure that his directive is followed to the letter, Eleazar instructed the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) to make certain that all police personnel are well-informed of the guidelines set under the Alert Level 2 to avoid any confusion in its enforcement.
He also called on the public to cooperate with efforts to further prevent the spread of the coronavirus by continuing to observe health safety protocols, especially the wearing of protective equipment like face masks and face shields when in confined or crowded places and to practice physical distancing.
(Photo: Indiablooms)
