By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA
MANILA — Over 700,000 individuals have been arrested since June last year in Metro Manila for violating various ordinances, according to a National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) report released on Sunday.
Based on records given to the media by NCRPO chief, Director Guillermo Eleazar, a total of 709,515 violators were nabbed from June 13 last year to February 3 this year with smoking ban offenders topping the list.
Police rounded up a total of 174,440 violators of the smoking ban as of 5 a.m. on Sunday, accounting for 24.59 percent of all the arrests.
Minors violating curfew hours had the next biggest number, although with a much lower figure of 43,391, or 6.12 percent of all those arrested all over Metro Manila in the said period.
The NCRPO has also apprehended 39,556 individuals, or 5.58 percent of the total arrests, for going in public places ‘half-naked’.
Those drinking in public places came next, with 33,551 rounded up, accounting for 4.73 percent of the total number of violators across the board.
The rest, 418,577 people, or 58.99 percent of the total arrests were violators of other city and municipal ordinances in the NCR.
The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) still had the biggest number of arrests — 421,179 violators — 59.36 percent or more than half of all those arrested in Metro Manila.
The Eastern Police District (EPD) placed second with 132,479 persons (18.67 percent) apprehended, followed by Northern Police District (NPD) with 58,350 (8.22 percent), Manila Police District (MPD) with 55,241 (7.79 percent) and Southern Police District (SPD) with 42,266 (5.96 percent).
Eleazar said most of the violators were immediately released after paying a fine or due to humanitarian considerations.
Out of the apprehended individuals, 142,471 violators have been fined while 103,707 have been charged.
The implementation of city and municipal ordinances is part of the NCRPO’s peace and order strategy.
