‘LGUs should pass uniform ordinances for quarantine violators’

MANILA, Philippines – Interior Secretary Eduardo Año wants local government units to pass uniform and harmonized ordinances that will be implemented against quarantine protocol violators nationwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He is set to meet with the local executives today to thresh out details of the ordinance, noting that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) would release a memorandum on the planned directive that would recommend sanctions and jail time against violators.

“Let’s harmonize it. The implementation of the ordinance should be uniform. The key (to its success) is when people realize that it carries a penalty, that both the rich and the poor can be imprisoned for not wearing mask, then people will comply,” he said in Filipino over the weekend during an interview with TeleRadyo.

Latest data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) show over 231,000 individuals arrested for curfew and disobedience since March 17.

Año said these hardheaded individuals who disregard quarantine protocols have been causing community transmission, likely the driving force behind the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Among those that he called for a meeting are officers of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, League of Municipalities of the Philippines and the Liga ng mga Barangay.