874 ARRESTED IN QC TO BE FINED, CHARGED

A total of 874 offenders of face mask ordinances in Quezon City will be fined and charged accordingly after they were rounded up on Wednesday’s “one time, big time” operation enforced by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

Elmo San Diego, head of the city’s department of public order and safety, said the offenders violated Mayor Joy Belmonte’s Executive Order No. 25 and City Ordinance No. 2936, which require the wearing of face masks in public places amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We want the public to know that we are serious in implementing these policies for the safety of Quezon City residents,” said San Diego.

Put to waste

He said the ordinances “would be put to waste if they [didn’t] enforce them for the welfare and safety of the public.”

Under City Ordinance No. 2936, violators will be fined P1,000, P2,000 and P3,000 for the first, second and third offense, respectively.

All violators were brought straight to the Amoranto Sports Complex upon arrest, where they were processed and documented by the QCPD.

The city government said violators underwent a seminar on how to properly wear masks.

P1,000 fine

On Tuesday, San Diego said offenders would be released after paying a fine of P1,000.

But the city government said on Wednesday that they will file appropriate charges against these violators before the city prosecutor’s office.

It added that the operation was one of the law enforcers’ responses to the spike in community transmission, after Belmonte discovered that parties, drinking sessions, videoke, loitering and other activities prohibited during the pandemic have led to the clustering of COVID-19 cases in some areas.

Belmonte, who announced on Wednesday that she tested positive for coronavirus, met last week with chairpersons of the city’s 142 villages to remind them to strictly enforce the wearing of face masks, physical distancing and the ban on mass gatherings in their respective areas.