Senator Nancy Binay on Wednesday reiterated her call for authorities to deploy quarantine marshals in light of the continued breaches in protocol among quarantine facilities.
Rather than merely focusing on law enforcement, Binay said quarantine marshals would be tasked with ensuring that the public health aspect is also taken care of.
“I think instead of deploying police officials to guard quarantine facilities, it’s best if we tap these marshals to look after these facilities for a holistic approach,” Binay said in a statement.
“They won’t just stand there to guard for any potential violations, but would be there as pro-active participants to improve the system especially in the aspect of public health,” she stressed.
Binay also proposed the deployment of barangay watchmen, assisted by a health officer, as marshals, with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and Department of Tourism (DOT) briefing and training them.
Besides checking if health or safety protocols are enforced in establishments, the lawmaker added that the marshals would also be tasked with inspecting if establishments have proper waste disposal measures.
Binay said she believes police deployment would not necessarily weed out the corruption that is at the heart of the issue.
“This is a corruption issue and not an issue about order. What we need is a system that would weed out corruption. The deployment of police should not be used as a band-aid solution for any problem that the country is facing,” she pointed out.
“This is, again, a public health issue, and we need public health experts. At best, what we need is a hybrid approach that would respond to the public safety and law enforcement aspects,” she stressed.
She also said that mechanisms ensuring accountability should be in place to deter abuse, and for quarantine facilities to “stick to the rules.”
Binay said authorities should consider introducing stiffer penalties for establishments and individuals who are found to have deliberately violated quarantine protocols.
“Increasingly, the need to ensure compliance is becoming more urgent. It seems that any internal policy is no longer sufficient because we’ve already heard of quarantine violations from the start,” the senator said.
Binay initially called for quarantine marshals in January last year in the wake of flight attendant Christine Dacera’s death inside the City Garden Grand Hotel.