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Friday, March 29, 2024

Health endorses criminal raps against Pimentel

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The Department of Health, standing tough against violators of lockdown restrictions, said Friday it had endorsed the complaint against Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III for breaching COVID-19 quarantine protocols last March.

“We have endorsed it to the appropriate authority such as NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and PNP (Philippine National Police),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said when asked about the complaint filed by Lawyer Rico Quicho.

Vergeire said the endorsement of the complaint was part of their regular process.

“The DOH is usually administrative but, with regard to this, there is another process that is needed so we have submitted it to the proper authority. So this is our regular process when we receive this kind of complaints,” said Vergeire.

Quicho, a former law dean of the University of Makati, posted on social media on Thursday that, “DOH formally endorsed the complaint vs. Sen. Pimentel to PNP Chief Gamboa and NBI Director Distor to undertake investigation for possible violations of RA No. 11332.”

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Republic Act No. 11332 is the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.Reacting to Vergeire’s statement, Pimentel said the complaint filed against him was supposed to be a legal matter and not a political one.

Respecting the principle of sub judice analogously, Pimentel said his counter affidavit to the complaint was for submission to the DOJ and not to the media.

“We better ask Atty Quicho why he is pursuing his baseless case before the media. As if his rantings will ‘influence the jury,’ said Pimentel.

“Was it not obvious who is after the free media exposure? I thought this case was in pursuit of justice”? This might be in pursuit of something else. Come 2022, you will say I’m right,” further stated Pimentel.

In his counter-affidavit, Pimentel said Quicho theorized that by having a sample collected for COVID-19 testing on March 20, 2020, he was already identified as a Person Under Investigation and was required to undergo a mandatory self-quarantine.

“Atty Quicho’s reasoning is that since a PUI has to be tested then all those who have been tested are PUIs. He is grossly mistaken,” said Pimentel.

He described as “fatally defective” Quicho’s complaint because they were based “principally on news reports.”

“Considering Atty Quicho’s lack of personal knowledge, I am being charged based on mere hearsay,” said Pimentel.

Quicho filed the complaint in April, accusing Pimentel of violating the said law when he accompanied his pregnant wife to Makati Medical Center on March 24, 4 days after he underwent testing for COVID-19.

Pigmented later tested positive.

Quicho said the senator “blatantly violated laws, which put the lives and health of frontliners and even ordinary citizens at grave risk.”

Pimentel was quoted as saying earlier this week that the complaint against him was “fatally defective” since it was based on news reports and should be considered hearsay.

The Makati Medical Center issued a statement chastising the senator, a day after the incident happened.

“By being in MMC, Senator Pimentel violated his home quarantine protocol, entered the premises of the MMC-DR, thus unduly exposed healthcare workers to possible infection. As a result, a number of our nurses and doctors may need to be quarantined which will further deplete the dwindling workforce of the hospital,” the hospital head said in a statement.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III also acknowledged the breach in protocol, saying it “should not have happened.”

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