Plastic dividers are placed inside a jeepney to maintain physical distancing as part of the new normal in commuting in a few jeepneys authorized by the LTFRB to service specific routes. (Photo was taken inside a public utility jeepney plying the Downtown route in Dagupan City)\PHOTO BY WILLIE LOMIBAO
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—One of every four cases involving the nonwearing of face masks and violations of two other regulations enforced during quarantine against the coronavirus in Central Luzon had been dismissed by prosecutors mostly due to lack of ordinances.
Of the 3,090 cases related to these violations, at least 2,008 were filed in court from March 17 to June 30, data from the National Prosecution Service in the region showed.
Further investigation
These cases involved nonwearing of face mask and violations of the law on mandatory reporting of notifiable diseases and health events of public health concern (Republic Act No. 11332).
At least 578 of the cases were dismissed after inquest proceedings. Another 504 cases were referred for further investigation.The Pampanga prosecutor’s office said it did not dismiss any case for the nonwearing of face masks but referred 184 cases for further investigation.
Pampanga issued Ordinance No. 756, which made the wearing of face masks mandatory since mid-April. Balanga City in Bataan province reported zero cases. All of these cases involved unauthorized leaving of residences and disobeying persons in authority.
“[There is a] lack of local government laws; some have laws but do not provide penalties,” regional prosecutor Jesus Simbulan said when asked why many of the cases had been thrown out.
“Some local ordinances provide settlement by paying the fine before the case will be filed,” he said.
He said the guidelines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) had no penal provisions so local governments could not file cases using these as bases.
The guidelines, including the omnibus ones issued by the IATF on May 15, make the wearing of face masks a part of the minimum public health standards imposed by the Department of Health in the absence of a vaccine.
The nonwearing of face masks is supposedly a criminal offense, Simbulan said.—TONETTE OREJAS