An Irony to Blame
It was a thing to be unforgettable when on May 8, on his 55th birthday, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Major General Debold Sinas celebrated with his colleagues on Camp Karingal.
It maybe is a normal social gathering yet it all happened in the time of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila for being a high-risked area for coronavirus disease 2019 (CoViD-19).
Much more, the NCRPO took the guts to post pictures from the events on their Facebook page itself, but then later deleted it as it gains backlash from people. Yet, despite the presence of concrete evidence, Sinas and other personnel remained to only be charged, but not even took the chance to step inside the prison or to be fired, and instead protected by President Rodrigo Duterte.
That is why it is much of irony to note the plan of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Joint Task Force COVID Shield led by Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar to have surveillance over social media platforms on possible quarantine violators, as the authorities cannot even implement the protocols on themselves but rather to have a misconception of citizen-blaming for this crisis once again.
As to what it is, news lines of catching quarantine violators as the pandemic in the country got worsen are always being heard. With thousands of prisoners released from jail to attain spaces for social distancing inside the prison as they become more at-risk at getting the disease, has somehow suddenly changed its purpose as more and more people are being piled up inside it for protocol violations.
It was such, that the authorities have defended this kind of action as it is the “only way” to make them obey the rules and to be safe. But such ironic it is, that people in the jail are starting to get CoViD-19 and it spreads like a wildfire due to its crowdedness. Such an example is the Piston 6, well-known jeepney drivers for being arrested as they “violated” Quarantine regulations for rallying over their resources, have 2 of their members caught the disease inside the prison.
And with the proposed method of PNP, more will be in danger. In their defense, they said that this could be an easier way for them to determined the violators as they post it on social media, with parties, drinking sessions, and other matters per se.
But the thing is, it could be one of those ‘oplans’ that only those who are in slums be its prey as it was very well-known they are. While those officials that are supposed to lead such matters are leading another case — the case of violating health protocols while remaining to be exempted from the punishment.
It has been sparked on by Major General Sinas, as the controversy hit him more on, especially with the fact that the former PNP Chief, and even the President himself, decided him to stay on the job as he remains to be an “honest” man. But it could look upon that Sinas was not the only official to ruin the quarantine protocols. There is much more to begin with. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Deputy Executive Director Mocha Uson for gathering up Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) that are in 14-day quarantine in Batangas, and Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel for roaming around on a supermarket and hospital despite being aware that he was one of the suspected patients, still to be untouchable by the law.
Except for these unequal rulings of justice, lawyers have said that what the PNP wants is illegal and cannot happen. Connected to this, the President of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, Edre Olalia, said that even though the PNP’s plan sounds good to hear, it can violate laws such as the Data Privacy Act for conducting surveys, especially without legal permission from the court. Furthermore, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) worries about how they will take this method at determining the real violators.
To defend more this proposal, Eleazar said that they do not take their time diving into other people’s privacy but only to see who obeys the law and does not. Yet, there is no other way for them to know than to stalk the people they are suspecting for. Also, a contrast to what he said they do not know how to spy on someone is the fact that the recent news about applying the draconian Anti-Terrorism Law of 2020 in monitoring social media accounts for alleged terrorists’ actions worried more at stake, especially with the fact that they are arresting some critics of the administration on the internet.
With this, it is very unnecessary for the PNP to implement this proposed plan, as this may not only endanger the rights of many but also to apply in such an unequal way of social status. What could have been done better by the authorities is to educate them for the better. Just like other local government units (LGUs), seminars are already enough to inform the public of the dos and donts for the new normal.
Moreover, it is such a matter that the officials will not blame once ordinary citizens for this wide crisis. They should also look for their shortcomings and fill them up with proper solutions. By this, the unity within the government and the people at combatting the pandemic can be equally successful.
