Insisting there is only “one republic,” President Duterte has ordered local government units to “stand down” and abide by the national government’s lockdown strategy in Luzon.
The President warned that local government officials may face possible charges if they would defy the national government’s quarantine regulations and set their own rules. The entire government must “move in one direction, in one unison” to put the contagion in control and ensure better health of Filipinos, according to Duterte.
“I am ordering all LGUs that are doing this to stand down, and to abide by the directives of the IATF (inter-agency task force for the management of emerging infectious diseases),” he said during a taped public address early Friday morning.
“We are not a separate from a republic or from each other. There is only one republic here, the Republic of the Philippines and therefore, you should abide by the directives of the national government when it sets abide by the directives of the whole for the good of the country and the protocols observed during the time of the lockdown,” he said after a meeting with several officials of a task force overseeing government efforts to combat the spread of the new coronavirus.
Duterte said he has directed the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) “to closely monitor the compliance of LGUs with the directives and file the necessary cases against wayward officials.”
“If you go beyond the standards that we have set, you are abusing your authority, and you know that it can lead to – administrative cases or even worse, unless you stop what you are doing and [cooperate] fully. Criminal cases cannot be far behind,” he said.
A former mayor of Davao City, Duterte explained that the national government should “call the shots” especially amid this public health emergency, and the local government units should simply follow. Defying the national directives, he said, would only cause confusion.
At present, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is the national government body in charge of laying down the standards for the Luzon quarantine, according to the President.
“I know you have the mandate to deal with emergencies affecting your localities. I was a mayor myself, in case you have forgotten. But this is an emergency of national proportions, and therefore it is the national government that should call the shots,” he said.
He said the government needs the help of LGUs at this “critical time” but reminded them not to make the quarantine “more difficult for our people than it already is.
“Do not try to overdo things or think that you can do what you want to do because that is not allowed,” he said.
The country is currently under a state of calamity and a state of public health emergency following the sharp increase in coronavirus infections. (Genalyn Kabiling)