Cabinet Secretary and IATF co-chairperson Karlo Nograles (Screengrab from the Department of Health Facebook page)
MANILA, Philippines — The law has to be applied equally, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Thursday as some high-ranking government officials were criticized for supposedly disregarding following COVID-19 protocols.
In an interview, Nograles was asked if the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is holding public officials accountable for violating COVID-19 protocols, citing the recent reported protocol breaches of presidential spokesperson Harry Roque and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Debold Sinas.
Nograles serves as the co-chairperson of the IATF.
“We try, as much as possible, to enforce the law as equally as we can. I think the message is dapat equal naman [ang] treatment of the law dyan. So anong position ka man, whether you’re in public or private service, the law knows no position or anything like that. It has to be applied equally,” Nograles said in an interview on ABS-CBN News.
According to Nograles, mechanisms are also in place to hold public officials accountable such as the Civil Service Commission and other civil service laws.
“We are accountable to civil service—the CSC and civil service laws. Hindi lang kami maaaring masampahan ng civil cases o criminal cases, may admin cases din kami. Mayroon tayong Ombudsman, mayroon tayong anti-graft. So lahat yan, the measures, the mechanism is there in place but primarily civil service is there,” Nograles said.
“We have to hold public officials to a higher level of accountability,” he added.
Both Sinas and Roque have, in multiple occasions, been criticized for breaching COVID-19 protocols. Both public officials have also recently announced that they have contracted COVID-19.
For instance, the mayor of Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro recently said Sinas failed to follow the screening protocols required for anyone traveling to the provinces.