MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police on Wednesday said it is ready to assist in implementing the new granular lockdown in Metro Manila on the eve of its implementation.
Police General Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the PNP, said cops in the capital region have been told to familiarize with the lockdown's guidelines, and work with local governments for enforcing it.
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“We are continuously coordinating with the LGUs in Metro Manila for proper enforcement of these rules," he said, "from the identification of areas that would be placed under lockdown up to the distribution of assistance to the affected residents."
Metro Manila will shift to "Alert Level 4" of the granular lockdown starting September 16.
Some restrictions would be eased as a result of this, such as indoor dining allowed again, and limited capacity permitted in personal care services and in places of worship.
Eleazar said cops were instructed to also work with barangay (village) officials in implementing the adjusted curfew period beginning tomorrow.
Metro Manila mayors have agreed to relax the hours, which would now be from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. from the original start of 8 p.m.
The PNP chief sought to appeal to the public to follow the rules and regulations under the respective alert level systems of areas across the country.
"With the start of this tomorrow, we ask the public to cooperate for an orderly implementation," Eleazar added in Filipino, "and for us to meet our goal of controlling and eventually ending this pandemic."
The Philippines is battling a fresh surge of coronavirus cases that experts said may be driven by the highly infectious Delta variant.
Health authorities have reported record-high infections in the previous weeks, with the highest daily rise since the pandemic hit seen on September 11 at 26,303.