WHY do authorities treat violators of quarantine protocol like criminals?
Here in Cebu City, they are rounded up like dogs, brought to the Plaza Independencia where they are chastised and then penalized. Those who don’t have money are forced to render community service.
In doing so, the City Government also exposes them to the highly contagious Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
That sort of defeats the purpose of trying to keep the community safe from the disease, right?
I heard that in some barangays, violators who are picked off the streets are brought to the barangay hall where they sign something and then they are free to go.
Still, the City is treating its residents like enemies when it should be protecting them from possible infection.
I know, many blatantly violate health guidelines but if the City apprehends a man for not wearing a mask maybe it should ask him why he doesn’t have one in the first place. Maybe he can’t afford it. Did the City think about that? Not everyone has access to masks or face shields, you know.
As for being outside without a quarantine pass, well, we all know that not everyone received one when the city was first locked down eight months ago. For the majority, they are just trying to get about their business, perhaps trying to make a living so they can feed their families. After all, many, and I mean many, lost their jobs when business establishments started folding because they couldn’t cope with the losses brought about by the draconian measures imposed to prevent an outbreak.
By the way, as of Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, the city logged 329 active Covid-19 cases out of a population of nearly a million.
It just doesn’t make sense, does it? It seems like authorities are intent on running Cebu City and its residents down to the ground.
Recently, the City Council amended City Ordinance 2566, which prohibits non-wearing of masks in public and mass gatherings, among others, to double the fine imposed on quarantine violators from P500 to P1,000.
Shouldn’t the City prevent residents from violating protocol instead of waiting for them to break it and then apprehending them and fining them?
Then again, how can you expect the public to heed the City’s call to comply with guidelines when it can’t even implement them right in its own backyard?
In the downtown area where City Hall is located unmasked street children accost pedestrians for money while families continue to live on sidewalks.
What happened to “rescuing” them?
Anyway, judging by what’s really going on out there, it looks like the City has long realized that the way things have been cannot go on if it wants the economy to survive.
It reminds me of a dog, whose bark is worse than its bite.