A TOTAL of 12 persons in Bacolod City, including former board member Patrick Lacson, were fined by the Task Force Disiplina for violating health protocols at the Bacolod public plaza Monday morning, July 19.

Wilfredo Geolingo, action officer of Task Force Disiplina, said the violators, who were wearing white t-shirts, gathered at the Bacolod public plaza to show their support to former Third District representative Alfredo Benitez, who attended the Election Registration Board (ERB) hearing around 8:30 a.m.

He said the violators were not wearing face shields and not observing the social distancing.

They were given citation tickets and they were fined P200.

Geolingo said Lacson was fined for not wearing face shield and he was also cooperating with the task force team.

"He was cooperating with us and accepted the citation ticket. Some violators were also holding a banner or tarpaulin of Benitez, it means that they are supporters of Benitez," he said.

He added the task force team was dispatched to the area after they were informed that there was a mass gathering at the Bacolod public plaza, noting that they were monitoring the area of Commission of Election (Comelec)-Bacolod because of the long queue of the registrants since last month.

As of June, more than 200 health protocol violators were arrested in various areas for not wearing face masks, face shields and not observing the social distancing.

Geolingo urged all the Bacolodnons to follow the health protocols to prevent the spread of Covid-19 since Bacolod City is still under general community quarantine with heightened restriction.