Local officials charged for quarantine violations

Three local officials are facing administrative charges before the Ombudsman for violating quarantine rules.

In a statement on Thursday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Sto. Tomas town, Pangasinan province, Mayor Timoteo Villar III and his son, Councilor Dickerson Villar, were charged for holding a birthday party in May, “which violated social distancing and the prevailing curfew” during the Luzon-wide lockdown.

In a video uploaded and later deleted by the younger Villar, the mayor was seen shaking hands with guests during his May 6 birthday.

Buluan town, Maguindanao province, Mayor Babydats Mangudadatu has also been charged after he “failed to prohibit mass gatherings in his municipality.”

Since he had not replied to the show-cause order, Mangudadatu was considered to have waived his right to reply, the interior department said. A city mayor and two municipal mayors were issued admonitions for similar violations, Año said.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government chief earlier cleared National Capital Region Police Office chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, who held a similar birthday party in early May, complete with liquor and guests pressed closely at the buffet table.

At a press briefing, Año said what happened could not be considered as a willful violation of quarantine protocols.

“You can’t call it a birthday party because it’s a mañanita, a military and police tradition of greeting the commander a happy birthday at the break of morning,” he said, echoing Sinas’ excuse. —Nestor Corrales