BY JEFFREY DAMICOG
The Department of Justice (DoJ) is set to resolve the complaint filed against Senator Aquilino Martin “Koko” Pimentel III for allegedly violating quarantine protocols.
Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento confirmed on Friday that Assistant State Prosecutor Wendell Bendoval, who is handling the case, concluded his preliminary investigation on the complaint filed by former University of Makati law dean Rico Quicho.
“Case now submitted for decision,” Malcontento said.
Malcontento said the case has been submitted for resolution after this week Quicho submitted his reply to the senator’s counter-affidavit and Pimentel filed a rejoinder.
DoJ Undersecretary Markk Perete said that based on the Manual for Prosecutors the resolution of the case should be released within 60 days since it has been submitted for decision.
In his complaint that was filed last April 6, Quicho, former spokesman of former Vice President Jejomar Binay and late former Chief Justice Renato Corona, said Pimentel should be held liable for violating Republic Act No. 11332, the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act, and its implementing rules and other Department of Health (DOH) regulations.
On March 24, Pimentel, who was supposed to be under self-quarantine at that time as he was considered a person under investigation, accompanied his then pregnant wife, Kathryna, to the Makati Medical Center . She already gave birth last March 29.
After his visit, Pimentel confirmed he was tested positive for COVID-19.
In his counter-affidavit that was filed last week, the senator called the complaint “fatally defective” since it is “based principally on news reports!”
“Considering Atty. Quicho’s lack of personal knowledge, I am being charged based on mere hearsay,” Pimentel stressed.
Also, Pimentel pointed out being tested last March 20 for COVID-19 does not require him to go under self-quarantine.
“Atty. Quicho theorizes that by having a sample collected for COVID-19 testing on March 20, 2020, I was already identified as a Person Under Investigation (PUI), and was required to undergo a mandatory self-quarantine. Atty. Quicho’s reasoning is that since a PUI has to be tested all those who have been tested are PUIs. He is grossly mistaken,” read the senator’s counter-affidavit.
The senator also questioned why Quicho was the one who filed the complaint before the DoJ.
“Such self-appointment has no basis in law and is therefore invalid and of no effect, and he should not be allowed to act as one,” Pimentel said.
The lawmaker indicated that “Atty. Quicho is not somebody who, by any stretch of the imagination, could be affected by the events that transpired in the evening of March 24, 2020.” (Jeffrey Damicog)
