CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – A total of 2,136 have been arrested in Pampanga for not wearing face masks since the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine last March 17.
This, as shown in a table on the enforcement of quarantine protocols by the Pampanga police office and shared by the Pampanga provincial information office in its Facebook page.
Under ECQ from March 17 to May 15, a total of 596 individuals were arrested with the capital city topping the list at 159.
Midway into the ECQ in April, the sangguniang panlalawigan passed Provincial Ordinance No. 756 which ordered the mandatory use and wearing of face masks outside residences and in public places within the province as precaution against the spread of coronavirus disease.
The ordinance carried penalties of a fine of P20,000 to P50,000 or imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the proper court.
With the modified ECQ enforced on May 16-31, the number of arrests decreased to 184, again with the City of San Fernando on top at 76.
A slight rise in violations – at 192 – came with the general community quarantine for the period June 1-15. This time with the town of Apalit topping the list at 72.
The modified GCQ from June 16 to July 7 saw a surge in violations, totaling 767, with Apalit again with the most number of arrests at 203.
Overall, Apalit registered the highest number of violations at 356 with the City of San Fernando second at 323, and Mexico third at 227.
Last July 5, Barangay Capalangan in Apalit, earlier locked down due to five cases of Covid-19, was put on “hard lockdown” after 15 new cases developed in the area.
Col. Jean Fajardo, Pampanga police director, immediately ordered the setting up of additional checkpoints and deployed additional police personnel to strictly enforce quarantine protocols in all access points to the barangay.
On Wednesday, July 8, a second Covid-19 case in Barangay Panipuan, City of San Fernando prompted Mayor Edwin Santiago to place under a 48-hour localized ECQ Purok 1, the critical zone, and Purok 2, the containment zone, under localized GCQ .