GOING outside one’s residence to buy necessities as basic as food is not a crime per se.
Conversely, at the start of the pandemic, the police have been arresting hundreds of people every day. This is due to the fact that a lot of people were allegedly violating health protocols. Some of them would buy food even beyond curfew hours, or went out of the house to work in order to provide food on the table, and some would just stay outside because they got bored in their houses.
At the start of the lockdown, the Department of Justice (DOJ) provided the grounds for arrest for violation of quarantine protocols under Republic Act (RA) No. 11332. The said law is known as the “Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act”.
The purpose of this law is to protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them. Section 9 of the said law prohibits the:
(a) unauthorized disclosure of private and confidential information pertaining to a patient’s medical condition or treatment;
(b) tampering of records or intentionally providing misinformation;
(c) non-operation of the disease surveillance and response systems;
(d) non-cooperation of persons and entities that should report and/or respond to notifiable diseases or health events of public concern; and
(e) non-cooperation of the person or entities identified as having the notifiable disease, or affected by the health event of public concern
The DOJ stressed that the basis for the warrantless arrest rest in Section 9 (d) and (e). Both provisions imposed liability to those who are not cooperating.
Though the purpose is to punish the persons for violations, the law is too broad and ambiguous. It would violate the right to due process of law because the law itself does not make it clear that people who did not stay at home during a pandemic were covered.
Another contention is that police officers can stop the person and refuse his entry in the area where a lockdown is being implemented, but this person cannot be arrested and detained because basically it is not a crime if a person wanted to travel in the areas affected.
Likewise, those persons found during curfew hours would be asked to go home, and if they refuse, they would be arrested. And this arrest can only be effected when there is an ordinance by the local government unit on the curfew.
However, my other concern on this is that there is more arrest than inquest. It should be noted that Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) provides that in warrantless arrest, the person arrested or detained must be brought to court within 12 hours, 18 hours, or 36 hours, depending on the gravity of the offense.
The fact remains that others continue to be in police custody and later formally charged in court. They can also post bail which, sadly, others cannot to do for lack of money and difficulties in complying the requirements.
The law needs to be compassionate. And I hope that the police will refrain from arresting people on the reasons of having no masks or quarantine passes.
Also, they should refrain from arresting merely on minor infractions. There are a lot of ways to ensure public health in this time of pandemic other than arresting people./PN
