Senate bill wants P1 million fine, 6-year jail time for quarantine violators

FILE PHOTO: Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri. (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — A proposed law seeking to impose stiff penalties – including a fine of up to P1 million – against quarantine violators has been filed in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Tuesday filed Senate Bill No. 2470, which aims to amend Republic Act No. 11332, or Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act, to identify quarantine violations under its prohibited acts and set corresponding penalties for said violations.

“As we feared, tumaas na nga nang tumaas ulit ang mga kaso natin ng COVID over the past week. But this is not just from the Christmas rush. For all we know marami pang ibang mga quarantine facilities at individuals ang hindi sumusunod sa ating health and quarantine protocols at nagkakalat ng COVID galing sa ibang bansa,” Zubiri said in a statement.

(As we feared, our COVID cases have increased over the past week. But this is not just from the Christmas rush. For all we know, there are more quarantine facilities and individuals who are not compliant with our health and quarantine protocols and are spreading COVID from other countries.)

“We’re filing this bill so we can take these irresponsible individuals and entities to task in the future,” he added.

Zubiri filed the bill after a Filipina from the United States breached quarantine protocols and partied in Makati City. The woman and her party companions later tested positive for COVID-19.

READ: ‘Poblacion girl,’ parents, others to face raps over quarantine breach

Specifically, Zubiri’s bill would amend Section 9 or the Prohibited Acts under R.A. 11332 to include persons engaging in “non-compliance, evasion, or skipping off on mandatory quarantine or isolation” as well as individuals or entities who aid said persons, “such as owners, officials, or employees of quarantine and isolation facilities, government officials and employees, or acted as an accomplice in non-compliance.”

If enacted into law, the bill sets the fine for violators to not less than P500,000 but not more than P1 million, or imprisonment of one to six years.

Further, if another person contracts the communicable disease from the quarantine violator, and it leads to the person’s permanent incapacity or death, the bill sets a penalty of P1 million along with payment of civil damages or imprisonment of six to 12 years, according to Zubiri’s bill.

“There’s no recovering from this pandemic if people—and quarantine facilities themselves—do not take our health protocols seriously. Knowingly posing a health risk to others is absolutely harmful behavior, and our laws need to reflect that,” the senator said.

KGA