PNP to file complaint vs another quarantine violator if probable cause found

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos (INQUIRER file photo)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police will file a complaint against the woman who also breached COVID-19 quarantine protocols by staying in her condominium unit instead of a quarantine hotel if investigators will find a probable cause against her, PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said Thursday.

According to Carlos, the incident involving the so-called “massage girl”—as she had a massage and posted a picture online when she was supposed to be in quarantine—is already being investigated by the police.

“This is now being looked at. This is now being investigated. Once we find a probable cause, we will file cases against this violator, because this has been posted on social media, [and she was] bragging about it,” Carlos said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel’s Rundown.

“We all have our responsibility, the government and us, to make sure that we follow our minimum health protocols and make sure that everybody’s safety is not compromised. So we are just doing the job of doing our best to make sure that public health and public safety of the majority is being taken care of,” he added.

According to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, the woman who returned to the country from the United States on December 22 also skipped her quarantine in a Makati hotel and went instead to her condominium unit in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

“We are monitoring, we are looking, that’s why we are putting the two policemen [in each quarantine site] to monitor. If during random inspections, they are found not in the rooms, we will make the report and do an investigation, and if they are found to have violated any of the law, then we will file charges,” the PNP chief added.

Before the incident involving “massage girl,” authorities earlier investigated Gwyneth Chua, or the so-called “Poblacion girl,” who likewise skipped her quarantine and instead went to a party in Makati. The PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group already filed complaints against her, her parents, one companion, and five officials and employees from her quarantine hotel.

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