In a report from the City Information Office (CIO) Lupaz said the concerned individuals are first-offense violators.
The violators were among the 10,147 individuals issued citation tickets since the start of the implementation of the Face Mask Ordinance from January 1, 2022, to April 23, 2022.
Out of the 10,147, only 2,861 were able to pay the fines and penalties.
“We have already filed 2,414 cases through regular filing. We give them three to five days to pay. If they cannot pay within three to five days we will commence the filing of cases against them,” Lupaz said.
Lupaz clarified that the prescriptive period of the offense is two months so as much as possible, they file the cases within 15 days to one month after the violator fails to pay within five days.
Under the City Ordinance No. 0307-20 or the Face Mask Ordinance, a fine of P500 will be collected for the first offense, P2,000 for a second offense, and P5,000 for one-month imprisonment for the third offense.
He said that while the implementation of the Face Mask Ordinance is generally smooth, the number of people who have yet to settle their citation ticket obligation is causing great concern and this matter had already been relayed to the COVID-19 Task Force in a meeting on Monday (May 2).
“The problem we are experiencing so far is the filing of cases because as of now a total of 7,286 have not paid their obligation. We already discussed during the COVID-19 Task Force last Monday how we can monitor and push people to pay their obligation in terms of this violation,” he said.
Those who have not paid their fines can go to the City Treasurers' Office or their District Treasurer's Office, Lupaz said.
People should be reminded that they can only remove their face masks when eating or drinking, he added.
He said that even if the city is under Level 1, new COVID-19 cases and new infections are still recorded by the City Health Office (CHO), the wearing of face masks remains mandatory.
“That is why we are implementing this Face Mask Ordinance because people tend to relax and say that they can already remove their face mask which is not correct,” Lupaz said.
DCPO Chief Colonel Alberto Lupaz