Senator wants QC official’s ‘shoot to kill’ post probed

MANILA, Philippines — The head of Quezon City’s Task Force Disiplina may just learn what the social media campaign “Think before you click” means the hard way.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday urged her colleagues to conduct a Senate inquiry into the controversial Facebook post of Ranulfo “Rannie” Ludovica, who said that violators of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in the city would be shot dead.

Hontiveros, a resident of the city, also asked Mayor Joy Belmonte to sack Ludovica, who had been admonished by the Department of the Interior and Local Government for his “improper and illegal” social media post.

Militaristic approach

“The Filipino people are already suffering from the health and economic impacts of this pandemic and do not need a militaristic and punitive approach to what is primarily a public health problem,” Hontiveros told Belmonte in a letter.

Ludovico, a former city councilor, had refused to apologize for posting “Mula bukas, shoot to kill na ang lalabag sa MECQ (Starting tomorrow, MECQ violators would be shot dead)” on his Facebook account on Monday, a day before Metro Manila and nearby provinces reverted to MECQ.

Born out of frustration

He justified his post by claiming that it resulted from his frustration over the rising number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Quezon City.

In seeking a probe into Ludovica’s action, Hontiveros noted that his subordinates were previously caught on video physically assaulting a fish vendor for mere failure to wear a face mask and that there had similar incidents of abuses committed by local officials.

“(T)his is not only violative of (the law), but also of the constitutional proscription against cruel and inhuman punishment,” Hontiveros said in Senate Resolution No. 489.