By Jel Santos
The Makati City Police on Monday (June 29) filed charges against actor KC Montero, his wife, and 119 others for violating Republic Act (RA) No. 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act, and Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code on resistance and disobedience to a person in authority.
(Makati Police photo)
Montero, his wife, and 119 others were apprehended by policemen for violating social distancing at a bar in Makati City on Sunday night.
READ MORE: KC Montero, wife, 119 others nabbed in Makati bar for violating social distancing
“For violating social distancing, we will file RA 11332, and Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code for disobeying a person in authority,” Major Gideon Ines Jr., Makati Police Investigation chief, said.
According to Ines, he said the prosecutor personally appeared at the Guadalupe Nuevo Gym to process the cases of the individuals involved.
“The prosecutor had to go here, because there are so many of them. It will take too long if we will transport them one by one to court,” Ines explained. “They were detained at the gym, because there are so many of them. They can’t practice social distancing at our detention cells.”
As of this posting, Ines said the prosecutor has not set any amount of bail for the suspects.
The Investigation Unit chief warned others not to commit the same mistake, saying "no one is above the law."
“May this be a warning to others who do not want to follow the guidelines of the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases), even if you are famous, you are still liable,” Ines said.
Around 6 p.m. on Sunday, a team of policemen led by Ines raided the Skye Bar on the 18th floor of M1 Tower in Salcedo Village, Makati.
Police said they earlier received a tip that the bar and its customers were violating social distancing rules, despite the country still being under community quarantine to stem the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Ines said Montero told them that he did not know bars are not yet allowed to operate, and that he and his wife went there just to eat.
Under general community quarantine, bars are still not allowed to operate. They were the first establishments closed at the start of the implementation of the community quarantine as they are deemed inessential.