The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) denounced the controversial Facebook post of the head of the Quezon City Task Force Disiplina threatening to “shoot to kill” those who will disobey the city’s quarantine protocols.
DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in a statement that the recent remark of Rannie Ludovica was “improper and illegal,” and he warned the official to discontinue issuing similar remarks in the future.
“While we strongly believe that discipline is one of the preventive measures to stop the transmission of the coronavirus, this must be enforced within the bounds of the law and the DILG will not tolerate any possible abuse of authority on the part of law enforcement agencies or enforcement units of local government units,” Malaya said.
“The penalties to be imposed by local government units against quarantine violators must be within the bounds of their respective ordinances,” he added.
Malaya also highlighted that the local government of Quezon City has disregarded the controversial Facebook post of Ludovica, “saying that it should not be taken literally, if true, and that it was merely an expression of frustration over the growing number of violations in Quezon City.”
Meanwhile, Ludovica cleared that there’s no existing shoot to kill policy against quarantine violators in Quezon City.
He also clarified that his post was personal.
The task force head encouraged the public to observe health and safety precautions to control the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infection.
Ludovica drew flak on social after posting on Facebook: Mula bukas, shoot to kill na ang lalabag sa MECQ. (RJ Espartinez)