THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will handle headstrong local government leaders with an iron fist and compel them to follow quarantine guidelines that the government has introduced to control the spread of the infectious novel coronavirus.
For starters, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Wednesday issued show-cause orders to three governors and two mayors for violating Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) rules.
“As directed by the President himself, we will not go easy on local government officials who will violate the prescribed directives during the ECQ. That’s the mandate of the DILG — local government supervision,” Año said.
DILG undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said the reported offenses of officials include violation of the prohibition against mass gatherings, failure to implement social distancing, prohibiting the movement of cargoes, refusing entry to Overseas Filipino Workers who have secured health certifications from the Department of Health, prohibiting the operations of firms vital to food security, and prohibiting the entry of essential personnel like health workers to their areas, among others.
Año said the DILG has no choice but to issue show cause orders against these officials “and file the necessary charges against them, when necessary.”
Año said the officials were told to explain why no administrative cases, on top of possible criminal charges that may be pursued by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department Justice, should be filed against them before the Office of Ombudsman for negligence, dereliction of duty and violation of the Bayanihan Act.
Año said: “We are giving them due process to explain and defend themselves because they enjoy the presumption of regularity in the exercise of official functions unless overturned by sufficient evidence.”
He said more show cause orders will be issued against local chief executives in the coming days and said that “once we have exhausted all avenues for dialogue, we have no choice but to start filing cases.”
Malaya said the DILG cannot yet name the governors and the mayors given the show cause orders because the department was still waiting for their written explanation.
CHINESE GAMBLERS
Five Chinese were arrested by the police for illegal gambling and violation of ECQ rules in Butuan City on Tuesday, Caraga regional police director Brig. Gen. Joselito Esquivel reported on Wednesday.
The five were identified as Qinghua Cai, 40, of Manila City; Wilson Ong Chua, 55, of Butuan City; Ziguang Cai, 54, of Surigao City; Dong Jun Li, 40, of Manila City; and Liming Cai, 64; of Butuan City.
Cai and Chua were arrested with Filipino Garcia Guo, 49, at the Shangrila Subdivision in barangay Imadejas in Butuan City while playing tong-its, a Filipino card game. Seized from them were P27,730 cash and playing cards.
The three other Chinese were nabbed with Filipino Ken Dagohoy, 36, while playing mahjong at an adjacent residence in the subdivision. They yielded P13,250 in cash and a mahjong set and mahjong pad.
Esquivel said 41 others, all Filipinos, were arrested by the regional police throughout the region on Tuesday also in relation to the ECQ — 19 for disobedience to persons in authority, 13 for violation of social distancing rules, and nine for curfew violation.
