ALMOST all of us had a long weekend last week due to the Lenten holidays.
It seemed that even though we were on quarantine, a lot of us still enjoyed our summer vacation at home.
We had loads of time to spend with our family and loved ones. We also discovered new talents and hobbies that we could share once the quarantine is lifted.
Of course, my usual morning routine even on holidays is to check my e-mail. I received e-mails from my clients as well as from avid readers of this newspaper.
I received queries regarding hoarding and profiteering in times of COVID-19, filing of income tax return, and refusing to heed the self-quarantine order.
Among the three topics, I received four e-mails asking about the penalty for refusal to heed the self-quarantine order. Thus, I will discuss this first in my article.
The readers asked me if there is any legal basis for a possible arrest of a Person Under Investigation (PUI) for COVID-19 who refuses to heed or cooperate with the self-quarantine order.
To better understand the question, let me refer you to Republic Act (RA) 11332. This is also known as the “Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Disease and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.”
Under Section 9 of the said law, the following are the prohibited acts:
* unauthorized disclosure of private and confidential information pertaining to a patient’s medical condition or treatment;
* tampering of records or intentionally providing misinformation;
* non-operation of the disease surveillance and response systems;
* non-cooperation of persons and entities that should report and/or respond to notifiable diseases or health events of public concern; and
* non-cooperation of the person or entities identified as having the notifiable disease, or affected by the health event of public concern
However, there is exception: “Disclosure of confidential information will not be considered a violation of this Act under this section if the disclosure was made to comply with a legal order issued by a court of law with competent jurisdiction.”
The law penalizes the above-mentioned violations with a fine and/or imprisonment.
Section 10 on penalties provides that: “Any person or entity found to have violated Section 9 of this Act shall be penalized with a fine of not less than P20,000 but not more than P50,000 or imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the proper court.”
It is correct to say that mere non-cooperation of a person with notifiable disease is considered a violation.
It is also a violation when a person refuses to obey an order for self-quarantine in relation to a notifiable disease.
As of this writing, Philippines has a total of 5,223 confirmed cases of persons with COVID-19, with 295 recoveries and 335 deaths.
I hope that by noting these numbers we will be encouraged to do our part in obeying the laws to help save lives.
Stay at home! Keep safe, everyone! (ayindream.aplasca@gmail.com/PN)
