PNP urges cops, public: Follow Duterte order on face shields
MANILA, Philippines — After Duterte first issued the new order, Philippine National Police leadership said it would be enforcing the wearing of face shields among the public and within its ranks.
In a statement, Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said that he reminded police personnel to exercise maximum tolerance and to refrain from imposing sanctions on those who fail to wear face shields.
Aside from face masks, he said face shields should also be distributed to those who have none.
READ: Duterte keeps mandatory use of face shields indoors, outdoors
This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night said that wearing face shields — which has no scientific basis to date — is now required both indoors and outdoors in response to the detection of Delta variant cases of the coronavirus.
"We're asking the public to respect and follow the directive of our president on face shields. This is for our safety," Eleazar said in Filipino.
"According to experts, this new variant is no joke and we really need to be doubly careful," he added.
Acting on the advice of health experts and in view of the Delta variant, PRRD declared that the wearing of face shields, both indoor and outdoor, is still mandatory.
— Harry Roque (@attyharryroque) June 21, 2021
Duterte's new decision came just hours after he first said that the plastic face guards were no longer required.
"My only instruction to our policemen is to follow this policy because what will be our credibility in the arrest if we ourselves do not follow it?" Eleazar said.
READ: Palace: Face shields no longer required outdoors
Arrests for the vaccine-hesitant?
The Philippine National Police has historically taken policy directions from President Duterte's nightly addresses.
When the president ordered the arrest of anyone caught without a face mask, thousands were arrested the week after.
But on Monday night, the president in one of his signature rants went as far as threatening to put anyone refusing to be vaccinated behind bars.
READ: Duterte gives fresh arrest order for those who refuse COVID-19 vaccines
“Kung ayaw mo magpabakuna, ipaaresto kita. At ang bakuna ay galing—itusok ko sa puwet mo. (If you don’t want to be vaccinated, I will have you arrested. The vaccine is from—I will have you injected on your butt),” he said.
“But if you don’t want to, I will have you arrested. That is in pursuance of a policy of our crisis of this health issue,” Duterte added.
Eleazar has yet to respond to queries on the order.
— with a report from Kristine Joy Patag
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