THE past days have seen a rash of disturbing incidents involving law enforcement personnel enforcing the rules of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) across Metro Manila and private citizens supposedly violating those rules. Public opinion seems evenly divided, with some people protesting vehemently against “police brutality,” while others just as zealously defending the police actions.

From our perspective, this bitter division simply shows that both the law enforcement community and the public need to exercise much greater patience and be more discerning of the facts and contexts of incidents before drawing conclusions or acting on them.