OVER 30,000 individuals were accosted by the police in the National Capital Region (NCR) for various violations during the first week of the implementation of Alert Level 3 from January 3 to 9.
A report from PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame said 5,277 of the violators were accosted on Sunday, increasing the number of individuals apprehended since January 3 to 30,366.
Of the total violators, 30,206 were accosted for violation of minimum public health standards or MPHS (including wearing of face mask and observance of physical distancing) while 160 were apprehended for violating curfew.
The PNP said 22,360 of the violators were merely warned, 3,977 were fined, while 4,029 were brought to police stations for filing of charges.
Nationwide, a total of 144,300 violators were apprehended during the period — 130,805 for MPHS violation, 9,630 for curfew violation, and 3,865 non-authorized persons outside residence.
Of the nationwide violators, 122,958 were warned, 11,037 were fined, and 10,305 were brought to the police stations for filing of charges.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said policemen and barangay officials will only send home people not yet vaccinated against COVID-19 who are going out of their homes.
Last Thursday, President Duterte directed barangay officials to arrest unvaccinated individuals found in the streets if they refuse to heed request to go home. Año said the President’s statement was only meant to restrict the movement of unvaccinated individuals while there is a surge in infections.
Año noted that 80 to 85 percent of COVID-19 patients ending up in critical condition are unvaccinated. He also said that nine out 10 individuals who died of COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the operation of its Office of Consular Affairs (OCA), Consular Offices (COs) and Temporary Offsite Passport Services (TOPS) will be temporarily suspended from January 10 to 20 due to the steep rise in COVID-19 cases among its staff.
The DFA said during the suspension, no passport or Apostille (Apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document) applications will be processed or released.
It added that passport and Apostille applicants at affected offices and sites during the suspension should check their new schedules with the DFA website.
The DFA said consular offices in La Union, NCR East and NCR North as well as the TOPS in Robinsons Novaliches will be temporarily closed from January 10 to 20 while the DFA-OCA in Aseana Business Park in Paranaque City as well as the COs in NCR Central, NCR Northeast, NCR South, NCR West, Antipolo, Angeles City, Baguio, Dasmarinas City, Iloilo, Lucena City, San Pablo and Malolos and the TOPS in Newport Mall, Robinsons Las Pinas, Robinsons San Pedro, Laguna and SM Manila will also shut down during the same period.
The Sandiganbayan said there will be no in-court hearings on all pending cases effective January 10, 2022 “until further orders.”
In her Administrative Order No. 001-2002, Presiding Justice Amaparo M. Cabotaje-Tang cited the continuing surge in COVID-19 cases and the classification of Metro Manila as a high-risk area by the Department of Health.
The Sandiganbayan, a special anti-graft court handling corruption and other criminal cases against high-ranking public officials, is housed in the Centennial Building on Commonwealth Avenue Quezon City.
It imposed a three-day work suspension last January 4 to 6, 2022 after mandatory antigen tests administered to employees onsite showed 12 were positive for the coronavirus. Health restrictions were stepped up as the DOH reported new record-high COVID-19 cases in the last three days.
According to the new work arrangements the court’s office hours have been shortened to just six hours daily from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday to Friday.
The practice of maintaining a skeleton staff on Saturdays to handle urgent matters has been suspended although personnel of designated divisions and offices will be on-call when needed to process pressing transactions, including applications for bail.
The Sandiganbayan said it will continue proceedings on all pending cases despite the limited work hours and mobility.
“The Divisions of the Sandiganbayan shall conduct videoconferencing hearings on pending cases, whether urgent or not, as far as practicable, as may be determined by the Presiding Justice or the Chairpersons of the Divisions concerned. There shall be no in-court appearance of lawyers, parties or witnesses,” Tang said in her directive.
The court will continue to accept all incoming cases from the Office of the Ombudsman but assignment to any of the seven existing divisions will be done on video conferencing to be witnessed by both the prosecution and the defendants.
An outdoor kiosk will remain operational to receive, process and release requests for court clearances. — With Peter Tabingo and Ashzel Hachero
