SAF To Be Deployed to Enforce Cebu City ECQ

More military personnel are to be deployed in Cebu City soon to help implement the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Cebu City, said the Joint Task Force COVID Shield (JTF CV Shield) on Thursday, June 25, 2020.

The task force plans to deploy the Special Action Force (SAF) commandos of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to assist in the implementation of ECQ in the city.

“Mobility assets of SAF will also be deployed in Cebu City include Multi-Purpose 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 Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, JTF CV Shield commander in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.

Two companies of SAF composed of 150 personnel will be deployed.

This comes after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) observed that some residents in Cebu City are not following quarantine rules such as social distancing and wearing of face masks when going out of their houses.

According to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año, ECQ rules should be strictly followed to help cut down COVID-19 cases in Cebu City.

Aside from SAF troops, more soldiers will also be deployed in Cebu City. (ASC)