After nearly nine months of relentless operations, 809,885 ordinance violators in Metro Manila have been sanctioned by the police, data released yesterday by the National Capital Region Police Office showed.
NCRPO chief Police Major Gen. Guillermo Eleazar reminded the public to be knowledgeable of city ordinances in their communities and be law-abiding citizens to avoid being penalized.
From June 13, 2018 to 5 a.m. yesterday, 191,917 smokers have been caught by the police violating the smoking ban which accounted to 23.70 percent of the total violators.
It was followed by 48,763 minors who violated the curfew ordinance (6.02 percent); 42,740 men who were caught half-naked or those without an upper shirt while loitering on the streets (5.28 percent); and 37,890 individuals who were drinking in public places (4.68 percent).
Meanwhile, 488,575 individuals (60.33 percent) were accosted for other violations such as urinating and spitting in public places, using karaoke on the wee hours of the night, acting as barkers, and offending traffic-related laws.
However, Eleazar reiterated that not all violators were arrested and put behind bars for it will cause jail congestion.
In fact, 526,760 violators (65.04 percent) were just given a warning since their violations were not that severe.
On the other hand, 164,226 violators (20.28 percent) were fined by the police while the remaining 118,890 violators (14.68 percent) were arrested and charged before the court.
Eleazar stressed that the NCRPO has coordinated with city prosecutors to expedite the resolution of the cases of the ordinance violators to avoid jail congestion.
As of 5 a.m. yesterday, all the arrested violators have been released from the prisons after they have served their jail time, the Metro Manila police chief noted.
The Quezon City Police District recorded the most number of apprehended violators with 473,352 (58.45 percent); followed by the Eastern Police District with 153,594 (18.96 percent); Northern Police District with 73,156 (9.03 percent); Manila Police District with 62,607 (7.73 percent); and Southern Police District with 47,176 (5.83 percent).
Eleazar vowed that the intense police operations against ordinance violators will not be stopped to continuously deter the crime occurrences in Metro Manila. (Martin Sadongdong)
