Duterte ‘won’t obey’ court orders on Covid-19 protocols: ‘I will insist on what is necessary’

By Prince Golez

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he would not follow court orders concerning quarantine protocols, noting that the Covid-19 situation in the country is of national interest.

Duterte made the statement after two Cebu-based lawyers asked a trial court to declare the testing and quarantine protocols of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases for international travelers inapplicable and ineffective in the province.

“At this time of national emergency, I would just like to inform the courts that I will not follow them. I will insist on what is necessary to protect the people. It is not what the legal book says about the matter of stopping the protocols,” the country’s chief executive said in a televised speech.

“I will not obey the courts in the matter of managing the pandemic. I do not want anybody from any government agency or department messing up with a situation that is being managed because it is very dangerous to the country,” he added.

Despite the President’s order on arrival protocols for overseas Filipino workers and returning overseas Filipinos, Governor Gwen Garcia said Cebu will still implement its “swab-upon-arrival” policy. Those tested negative for Covid-19 would be allowed to go home and continue their home quarantine.

The IATF protocols, on one hand, require returning passengers to undergo a facility-based quarantine and get tested on the seventh day from date of arrival.

“I leave the fate of Governor Garcia sa DILG (Department of the Interior and local Government. There are some mechanics there that can be put into action to compel obedience… All our decisions are based on what the medical people say,” said Duterte.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)