‘No non-cooperation’: DOJ junks quarantine breach rap vs Pimentel

MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has dismissed a criminal complaint against Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on his alleged community quarantine protocol breach last year.

The complaint against the senator, which was filed by lawyer Rico Quicho, was dismissed by the DOJ on Thursday after a lengthy preliminary investigation due to lack of probable cause and being “fatally defective.”

Pimentel drew flak in March 2020 when he accompanied his wife to Makati Medical Center despite supposedly being under quarantine for a then-suspected and later confirmed coronavirus infection.

Pimentel said he learned of his positive test result when he was already at the hospital, but claimed that he left immediately. Apart from going to hospital, the senator also reportedly went shopping at a mall in Bonifacio Global City.

In his complaint, Quicho accused Pimentel of violating Republic Act No. 11332 and regulations of the Department of Health. But DOJ said Pimentel is “not a public health authority” and was thus “not obliged to report” under the mandatory reporting provision.

“But assuming that he had to report his medical condition as a private individual, there was nothing to report at the time he went to the Makati Medical Center and the S&R at Bonifacio Global City on March 24 and March 16, respectively,” DOJ said.

“There is no ‘non-cooperation’ under Section 9(e) of R.A. No. 11332 as Sen. Koko Pimentel was deemed to have ‘cooperated’ when he left the hospital premises immediately after receiving the information about his medical condition,” it added.

The National Bureau of Investigation also recommended to the DOJ that the case be “closed and terminated,” according to Prosecution Atty. Honey Delgado, spokesperson of the prosecutor general’s office.

Upon dismissal, Pimentel said he was delighted with the decision and described it as “unassailable and correct.”

“Tama naman ‘yan. The complaint criminally charged me for violation of NON PENAL DOH issuances which are not even addressed to me. How can something non-criminal all of a sudden become criminal when you are not even expected to be knowledgeable or an expert about their contents?” Pimentel said.

“The person who charged me was not even anywhere near me or the place of the incident. [Nakakapagtaka] why he became all of a sudden the source of the allegations,” he added./PN