DILG: Shoot-to-kill threat vs quarantine violators 'illegal'

MANILA, Philippines — The “shoot to kill” threat against quarantine violators of a Quezon City local government official is “improper and illegal,” the Department of the Interior and Local Government said.

QC local government’s Task Force Disiplina official Rannie Ludovica posted on his Facebook account that those who will violate the modified enhanced community quarantine will face shoot-to-kill policy. He later took it down but not before Rappler reported his post.

In a statement on Tuesday, DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said they advise Ludovica “to desist from issuing similar statements in the future.”

Malaya, also the DILG’s spokesperson, reminded department heads of LGUs that they must be “circumspect in their social media posts since this may be mistaken by their constituents as official LGU policy.”

Discipline as measure against spread of COVID-19

Malaya also said that while they believe in discipline as a preventive measure to deter the spread of the coronavirus, “this must be enforced within the bounds of the law.”

Public officials have long banked on the narrative that Filipinos are “pasaway”—or are stubbornly ignoring quarantine guidelines—and are to blame for the rising COVID-19 infections in the country. Data from tech giants Google LLC and Apple Inc. however refute this.

Malaya, in the same statement, also said that the DILG will not tolerate abuses of local government officials and penalties imposed on quarantine violators “must be within the bounds of their respective ordinances.”

The DILG official also said that QC Mayor Joy Belmonte disowned Ludovica’s post “saying that it should not be taken literally” and that it “was merely an expression of frustration over the growing number of violations” in the city.

The QC Government, on its Facebook page, listed reminders for its citizens as the city returns to MECQ status. Among these are staying at home; liquor ban; no public transportation except tricycles; no mass gathering; no dine-in and presentation of quarantine pass or work ID at checkpoints.

It does not include a shoot-to-kill policy.

Ludovica meanwhile pinned the blame on Rappler for reporting on his now-deleted “personal” Facebook post and accused the online news site of being malicious.

He also clarified that the Quezon City government does not have a shoot-to-kill policy.

Rappler, for its part, stood by its story and said if the local officer insists that their reporting was malicious, “then he should either avoid making irresponsible statements or quit.”  — Kristine Joy Patag

Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Philstar.com. This article was produced following editorial guidelines.

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