The Department of Justice (DOJ) was not consulted on the government’s plan to go house-to-house searching for Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) asymptomatic patients and those with mild symptoms.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año announced the plan along with the local government units (LGUs) and the police.
According to DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra, the matter was not discussed in the meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
Sec. Guevarra clarified that although it is the individual’s responsibility to inform the authorities, it is the government’s responsibility to place the patient in a quarantine facility if the isolation area in his/her home is not enough.
He added that even if the IATF considered the plan, it is more fitting for barangay health workers to conduct the house-to-house search since they are more well-informed on whether or not there is a need for their constituents to go to a quarantine facility or not.
-PTV News
