MANILA – A lawyer has filed a complaint against Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III for allegedly violating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quarantine protocols.
Lawyer Rico Quicho said he emailed a letter of complaint to the Department of Justice against Pimentel on Monday “detailing the clear facts and circumstances that establish his direct violation of RA No. 11332 and its implementing rules and other DOH regulations.”
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.
Quicho, who is a former University of Makati law dean, added that the petition on change.org seeking to charge Pimentel and remove him from the Senate has garnered 200,000 online signatures.
“We are one with the Filipino people in condemning negligent and reckless acts which expose the public, especially our health workers to unnecessary risks,” Quicho said in a Facebook post.
“As a lawyer and advocate of the rule of law, I cannot in good conscience allow the reckless actions of Senator Koko Pimentel to be brushed aside so easily,” the lawyer added.
“He blatantly violated laws, which put the lives and health of frontliners and even ordinary citizens at grave risk. I hope the DOJ will swiftly act and pursue legal actions against Senator Koko Pimentel,” he said.
Pimentel, who was tested positive for COVID-19, earned flak for visiting the Makati Medical Center on March 24 to accompany his wife Kathryna who was about to give birth.
Pimentel was supposed to be under strict home quarantine after his exposure to positive cases. Aside from his hospital visit, it was revealed that Pimentel also went to S&R supermarket during his quarantine./PN
