DOJ vows to probe Pimentel’s breach of medical protocol

CEBU, Philippines —  After getting flak from the public because of its compassionate treatment to Senator Koko Pimentel, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has changed tune and vowed to “investigate and resolve” the senator’s case with the same treatment given to all other cases.

DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra said they will look into Pimentel’s breach of medical protocol on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic like any ordinary case.

“The DOJ will investigate and resolve Sen. Koko Pimentel’s case in exactly the same way that the DOJ handles all other cases brought before it,” Guevarra said yesterday when asked to comment on the criticisms that the DOJ is getting from the public.

Pimentel was criticized on social media after he accompanied his pregnant wife on Tuesday night to the Makati Medical Center (MMC) without disclosing that he is a Person Under Investigation (PUI) and later on tested positive for COVID-19.

Aside from Pimentel, Guevarra has also drew the public’s ire when he said that they will act only if a complaint will be filed against Pimentel and maintains to address the issue with “human compassion” contrary to how law enforcers impose warrantless arrest against ordinary violators.

“During abnormal times like these, when people are prone to commit mistakes or violations of the law, the DOJ will temper the rigor of the law with human compassion. But this is not to say that the DOJ will not act upon the filing of a proper complaint by any interested party,” Guevarra recently said.

With Guevarra’s previous statement, private lawyer Rico Quicho said that he is drafting a complaint to hold Pimentel liable for criminal, civil and administrative charges when he breached MMC’s medical protocol.

Quicho said that he is still waiting for other medical groups in the Philippines to send more information on the case build-up against Pimentel.

National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) President Edre Olalia also rebuked Guevarra, saying that the law should apply to all violators regardless of their social status as he emphasized that law applied to the “powerless and the poor” should be the same law applied for “powerful and privileged.”

“I do not agree with [Guevarra] on ‘selective compassion.’ Credibility requires consistency. It cannot be the law is harsh, but it is the law for the poor and powerless and then the law must be tempered with mercy and compassion only for the powerful and privileged,” Olalia said.

“There must be assumption of full responsibility. It cannot be ‘back to business.’ If we let this slide, then the public will even be more jaded, cynical, disgusted and frustrated over this hypocrisy, selectivity and favoritism. Nobody will believe, let alone follow anymore,” he added.

Pimentel said he will respond to the allegations hurled against him in due time. He also vowed to face any investigation. Philippine Star News Service (FREEMAN)