2 SAF companies sent to Cebu City to enforce ECQ

Two companies of the police’s elite Special Action Force (SAF) were deployed to Cebu City starting yesterday to assist in the strict implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) amid the continuous rise of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the area.

Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, said the move is aimed at duplicating the government’s success in controlling the movement of people and in compelling them to observe quarantine protocols when Metro Manila was still under ECQ.

The deployment of SAF has been proven effective in forcing residents of Metro Manila since the third week of April to stay in their houses.

Based on the JTF COVID Shield data, there was a significant decline of quarantine violators since SAF commandos were deployed in the National Capital Region during the time when Metro Manila was under ECQ.

“Mobility assets of SAF will also be deployed in Cebu City that include MultiPurpose Armored Vehicles similar to what we used in the implementation of ECQ in Metro Manila. We have already coordinated with the Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the deployment of SAF personnel and their mobility assets,” said Eleazar.

The official said that the SAF deployment is composed of at least 150 personnel and are set to be sent to Cebu City starting Thursday.

It was Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, an official of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 who ordered the deployment of SAF commandos after observing that Cebu City residents are not strictly following the ECQ rules.

Aside from SAF commandos, soldiers have also been deployed in Cebu City and nearby areas in order to augment the local police manning the checkpoints and conducting regular patrol to enforce quarantine rules on wearing of face masks, physical distancing and unnecessary movement from the residents’ houses.