The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday said Olongapo Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr is facing charges before the Office of the Ombudsman for repeatedly violating quarantine measures enforced by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
DILG spokesman Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said Paulino is facing gross neglect of duty, grave misconduct, alleged violations of Republic Act No. 11469, and Republic Act No. 11332 as well as open disobedience under Article 231 of the Revised Penal Code charges.
DILG first issued a show cause order against Paulino in April after he allegedly organized a mass gathering during the distribution of social amelioration cards during the first tranche of the Social Amelioration Program. The community quarantine prohibits any form of mass gathering.
“In that instance, we already admonished him and warned him to fully comply with IATF regulations, otherwise we may be compelled to charge him,” Malaya said.
Paulino then again violated the IATF measures when he released Executive Order No. 54, series of 2020 last May 21, Malaya said. The said order allowed back-riding in his jurisdiction. The IATF was firm on banning back-riding since the physical distancing could not be observed in this set-up.
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DILG Usec Malaya added that Olongapo mayor did not revoke it but only suspended the ordinance until such time that “it is consonant with the guidelines and regulations of the IATF-MEID, DOTr (Department of Transportation), LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board), DILG, or any other pertinent government agency.”
“The EO issued by the Olongapo Mayor in May clearly runs counter to the directives of the national government that were earlier issued in March as well as the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act enacted on March 24,” Malaya said.
“The Bayanihan Act passed in March mandates that all LGUs should act within the letter and spirit of all the rules, regulations, and directives issued by the national government and are implementing standards of community quarantine consistent with what the national government has laid down to address COVID-19. And yet he issued his own policies inconsistent with national policies,” he said.