Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 16) — The Department of Health has endorsed a complaint against Senator Koko Pimentel to the police and the National Bureau of Investigation for alleged breach in quarantine protocol, the lawyer who filed the complaint said Thursday.
Rico Quicho, a former dean of the University of Makati, said Philippine National Police Chief PGEN Archie Gamboa and NBI Director Eric Distor will investigate if the senator violated the “Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.”
Asked for his reaction, Pimentel said he will send his counter affidavit to the Justice Department without sharing to the media.
“The Quicho complaint is supposed to be a legal matter not a political one,” he said.
Quicho filed the complaint back in March after Pimentel visited the Makati Medical Center even though he was suspected to have COVID-19, allegedly breaking quarantine procedure. Pimentel later tested positive for the highly-contagious virus, drawing outrage from the public for endangering the hospital personnel during his visit.
Legal experts had said the senator may be fined up to ₱50,000 or face a jail term of one to six months for failing to disclose that he was suspected of having COVID-19 at the time. For violating the enhanced community quarantine, he can be fined between ₱10,000 and ₱50,000 or jailed for up to a year.
