Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar ordered police commanders in Metro Manila to assist in the information dissemination on the new guidelines on the quarantine alert level system.

The country's top cop also mandated his men to help in coming up with strategic enforcement and deployment in coordination with the local government units in the National Capital Region where the new guidelines will be implemented starting September 16.

The pilot implementation of the COVID-19 Alert Level System will start on September 16. NCR is under modified enhanced community quarantine until September 15.

On Monday night, the national government released the guidelines, which aim to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amid the continuous rise of cases in the past days.

“Sa paglabas ng mga alituntunin ng quarantine alert level system, inatasan ko na ang ating mga police commanders sa Metro Manila na pag-aralang mabuti at patuloy na makipag-ugnayan sa mga LGUs para sa strategic deployment at enforcement para sa maayos na pagpapatupad ng mga ito,” said Eleazar.

According to the DOH, Metro Manila will be placed under "Alert Level 4" during the first week of the pilot implementation of the COVID-19 Alert Level System.

What the PNP wants to prevent, according to Eleazar, is the confusion in the implementation of the rules which sometimes lead to unnecessary arguments and confrontations with the public.

Under the new guidelines, alert level systems will cover entire cities or municipalities, which will manage and minimize the spread of infections. Each city or municipality will be classified from Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 5, which will be determined by the DOH.

The granular lockdowns, on the other hand, are the critical zones that will be declared by the local government unit.

The Chief PNP also reminded police officers to observe maximum tolerance and impose what is only stated on the guidelines, noting that violators should never be punished. Eleazar also reiterated his appeal to the public to cooperate and follow the guidelines set by the government.

“Hinihikayat natin ang ating mga kababayan sa Metro Manila na alamin ang mga patakarang ito dahil ang pagsasa-puso sa pagsunod ng mga alituntuning ito ay isang mabisang sandata hindi lamang para proteksyunan ang inyong sarili kundi pati na rin sa patuloy na pagkalat ng COVID-19,” he said.