MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to subpoena Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Tuesday for supposedly violating the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quarantine protocol.
DOJ Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento said the preliminary investigation against COVID-19-positive senator is tentatively scheduled on May 20.
Lawyer Rico Quicho, who filed the case against Pimentel, said that he received an order from the DOJ requiring him to appear within five days from the lifting of the enhanced community quarantine with hard copies of his complaint and annexes and to swear to his complaint under oath.
Quicho slapped Pimentel with a complaint for allegedly violating Republic Act No. 11332 when he accompanied his then pregnant wife at the Makati Medical Center on March 24, despite undergoing testing for coronavirus disease or COVID-19 on March 20.
Pimentel was only informed that he had tested positive for COVID-19 while at the hospital and that he immediately left.
Republic Act 11332 prohibits the “non-cooperation of persons or entities that should report and/or respond to notifiable diseases or health events of public concern,” and the “non-cooperation of persons who have been identified as having the notifiable disease, or those affected by the health event of public concern.”
Prohibited acts under this law are punishable by a fine of P20,000 to P50,000 and/or one to six months of imprisonment.
DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said the Justice department will immediately schedule a preliminary investigation on the complaint against Pimentel on an appropriate date given the Luzon-wide lockdown./PN
