‘Iloilo village chiefs follow health protocols’

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The legal counsel of the group of village chiefs in Iloilo province said Friday that barangay officials “do not need to worry” about being arrested over violations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) protocols.

President Rodrigo Duterte in his latest weekly talk ordered the arrest of barangay captains who cannot implement health protocols in their villages, particularly the ban on mass gatherings.

In an interview with Aksyon Radyo Iloilo, Atty. Hernando Galvez, legal counsel to the Liga ng mga Barangay in Iloilo province, said barangay officials in the province have been compliant with national, provincial, and municipal health protocols.

Galvez said Liga President Dorothy Paes will push a resolution during their meeting that will encourage all barangay officials to strictly implement health protocols.

“We are happy that we haven’t seen any one of them [barangay captains] who haven’t cooperated. We are not affected by the president’s pronouncement because our officials in the entire province are very supportive by the national and provincial governments,” Galvez said.

Galvez added further that the president’s pronouncement “should not be taken literally”, and that police should be guided by the law.

He cited Section 5, Rule 113 of the Rules of Court, which provide for situations where arrests without a warrant issued by the court may be made.

These include “in flagrante delicto” where the offender is caught just after, during, or just before committing a crime, and “hot pursuit” where the person making the arrest had personal knowledge of the crime just committed and had reasonable cause to believe that the offender did it.

“The statement of the president should not be taken literally. Our police should be guided of the rules on arrest governed by Rule 113 of the Rules of Court. A person can only be arrested, whoever they may be, if they fall under the categories of Section 5 of Rule 113,” he explained.

Galvez explained further that barangay officials, or anyone caught violating health protocols, may be in danger of violating penal provisions of the law, including:

– Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code, which punishes any person who shall disobey any person in authority or their agents while engaged in the performance of their duties; and

– Section 9 of Republic Act No. 11332 (Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act), which penalizes non-cooperation of persons affected by the health event of public concern.

Violation of Art. 151 may be punished by arresto mayor (imprisonment of 1 month and 1 day to 6 months) and a fine of up to ₱100,000, or arresto menor (1 to 30 days) or a fine from ₱2,000 to ₱20,000, depending on whether or not the disobedience is serious.

Meanwhile, the penalty for violation of Sec. 9 of R.A. No. 11332 is fine between ₱20,000 to ₱50,000 or imprisonment from 1 to 6 months, or both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

Galvez advised the public not to be complacent and follow the protocols. They should not wait to be called out or apprehended by authorities.

“We are advising the public not to solely rely on our barangay captains because this obligation [observing minimum health protocols] is an obligation of each and every person, because if we only rely on the captain, who is only one person, and the size of the barangay in meters of kilometers, we are also praying for the support not only of the barangay officials, but also of the people, for the orders of [Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr.], because this is for our betterment and for us to help eliminating [COVID-19],” he said.

Data from the Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-WV CHD) as of May 28, 2021 indicated that Iloilo province has 7,283 COVID-19 cases (1,094 active cases, 6,002 recoveries, and 186 deaths).