The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is proposing that individuals caught not wearing their face masks should be put in jail for 30 days. DILG Undersecretary Martin Dino said “it was high time” to strictly implement the law and to stop giving chances to violators amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid 19) pandemic. If the face mask is not properly worn, say, if only the mouth is covered and not the nose, then the person should be imprisoned for 15 days.
I don’t know if this is Dino’s personal stand or if he represents the DILG. Dino was an anti-crime crusader in Manila and was chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption before he was appointed to his present position by the Duterte administration. He was the one replaced by then Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte as presidential candidate for PDP-Laban Party in the 2016 presidential elections.
Also, the Cebu City Council passed Ordinance 2566, or “an Ordinance Penalizing Any Violation in Relation to the Implementation of General Community Quarantine in Cebu City during Public Health Crisis,” sometime last June. The ordinance imposes fines of up to P5,000 and imprisonment or both upon the discretion of the court against quarantine violators. It was supposed to take effect on Aug. 16, 2020, but City Hall deferred its implementation pending amendment.
City Councilor Dave Tumulak, the ordinance’s main proponent, said Mayor Edgardo Labella, a lawyer, had advised him to amend the ordinance, especially the penalties, as these were too severe. A compromise administrative fine of P500 and P1,000 for the first and second offense, respectively, was approved by the council on Aug. 20.
For the third offense, the fine will be P3,000 or 30 days imprisonment or both upon court discretion.
Before the passage of the ordinance, quarantine violators were just only herded at the Plaza Independencia and forced to pray the rosary and do physical exercise and community service.
The other prohibition under the ordinance includes mass gathering, loitering, going out without authorization or quarantine pass, failure to observe social distancing inside vehicles and in public places and public consumption of alcohol.
I would like to remind Dino and our local legislators on a constitutional provision about imposing penalty. Section 19, Article 3 (Bill of Rights) states: “Excessive fines shall not be imposed, not cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted. Neither shall death penalty be imposed, unless, for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter provides for it. Any death penalty already imposed shall be reduced to reclusion perpetua.”
I agree with Labella that the penalties imposed under Ordinance 2566 are excessive. We are not dealing with criminals like those involved in illegal drugs and other criminal activities. Some of the violators have valid reasons for going outside their homes. The violation, if we may call it a “crime,” does not involve properties, lives and injuries. If our government imposes penalties on quarantine violators, these should be commensurate or correspond to what they have committed. I think “hard-headed” individuals will learn their lesson if the imprisonment is removed and only fines are imposed.