The Department of Justice has re-opened its preliminary investigation of the complaint filed against Senator Aquilino Pimentel III for alleged violation of quarantine protocols last March 24.
In a one-page order, Assistant State Prosecutor Wendell Bendoval, who is handling the preliminary investigation, ordered complainant lawyer Reco Paolo Quicho and respondent Pimentel to submit their respective comment on the incident report submitted by Makati Medical Center Medical Director Dr. Saturnino Javier, in connection with the case.
Javier’s report was forwarded by the National Bureau of Investigation on September 4, 2020 for consolidation of records with the conduct of preliminary investigation by the DOJ.
“In view of the foregoing, and in line with the policy of admitting all evidence that could assist in the judicious resolution of complaints, the preliminary investigation of this case is hereby re-opened,” the order stated.
“The complainant and respondent are hereby directed to submit (through electronic [means] their respective comment on the said memorandum report by the NBI , particularly on the said incident reports of the MMC, on or before September 21, 2020,” it added.
It’s been more than five months since Pimentel was accused of violating Republic Act No. 11332 (Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Concern Act ) and its implementing rules and other Department of Health (DOH) regulations.
Quicho, former University of Makati School of Law dean, filed the complaint after Pimentel reportedly entered the premises of the Makati Medical Center to accompany his wife who was about to give birth despite allegedly knowing that he was suspected of being infected with coronavirus 2019 or COVID-19
COVID updates
The Philippines now has 248,947 cases of COVID-19 after the Department of Health announced 3,821 new infections on Thursday, the third consecutive day in which more than 3,000 new cases were reported.
Metro Manila still logged the highest number of new infections at 2,079, followed by Rizal with 286, Cavite with 174, Laguna with 168, and Bulacan with 142.
The Philippines has tested 2,764,242 individuals. There are 89 licensed RT-PCR laboratories and 29 licensed GeneXpert laboratories in the country.
The DOH also reported 80 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 4,066, and 563 recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries to 186,058.
Deployment ban
A nurses’ organization Filipino Nurses United has called for the total lifting of overseas deployment ban for healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
FNU secretary general Jocelyn Andamo, in a television interview, said that healthcare workers had the right to choose better opportunities abroad.
Andamo said some healthcare workers had spent nearly P100,000 for the requirements of working abroad.
In a letter on Tuesday, Senator Risa Hontiveros had urged the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to lift the overseas deployment ban for health care workers.
Senate probe
Meanwhile, Senator Nancy Binay sought a Senate probe into the reported temporary deployment ban on healthcare workers imposed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and IATF.
“We want to know what were the guidance of POEA and IATF in their policy on the deployment ban. The latest incident wherein UK-bound nurses were offloaded from the plane only shows that the policy is disjointed and conflicting, and its implementation is prone to lapses,” Binay said.
Binay’s Senate Resolution 514 comes after Filipino nurses bound for the United Kingdom were reportedly offloaded by the Bureau of Immigration on Sunday despite their supposed exemption from the ban.
The Philippine Nurses Association also appealed to the government to allow 600 nurses to leave the country.
Medical frontliners
The Department of Health projected that the country would need 16,500 medical frontliners. Only 10,468 slots have been approved, however, with 7,850 having been filled up.
But Binay argued there would still be enough healthcare workers if the ban were lifted.
She cited 2017 data from DOH showing that there were over 750,000 licensed medical professionals in the country, including dentists, med technologists, pharmacists, physicians, and midwives.
Of this number, only 204,437 are active in the health sector, meaning more than 500,000 licensed medical professionals are not practicing their craft.
Herbal medicine
The Department of Health said a herbal medicine used vs COVID in China had been cleared by the Dangerous Drugs Board despite its ephedrine component.
The LianHua QingWen, a Chinese herbal medicine used in China against COVID-19, was approved by relevant Philippine agencies for use in the country for medical purposes.
“The Dangerous Drug Board (DDB) issued a resolution that they do not have any objection to this registration of the FDA for this LianHua, as long as the proper license will be secured and complied with by the importer with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a virtual briefing.
The drug contains 85 milligrams of Ephedrae Herba.