Republic of the Philippines

SULTAN KUDARAT STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Graduate Studies
ACCESS, EJC Montilla, Tacurong City

Subject: Legal Liabilities and Risk Management in Sports

Topic: COVID-19 Pandemic: Legal Issues

Teacher: Prof. Susan Losañes

Reporter: Jose Conrad C. Braña

1. POVERTY PUNISHED AS PHILIPPINES GETS TOUGH IN VIRUS PANDEMIC

Manila, Philippines - On the day her husband was arrested, Bernadeth
Caboboy had 200 Philippine pesos in her pocket and her fidgety three-year-
old daughter in her arms. The toddler needed milk and they needed food, but
had no money to buy either.
It had been three weeks since the lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-
19 was declared, and 21 long days since operations at the construction site
where her husband worked had stopped.
Their neighbourhood of San Roque in Quezon City, the country's largest
metropolis, got neither food nor aid from the government. Caboboy's
husband, Jek-Jek, decided to meet his foreman to see if he could get his
salary.
When Jek-Jek went out, he was swept up in a throng of people who were
waiting for the rumoured distribution of relief goods.
"Someone shouted that a charity was going to give away a half-sack of
rice," Jek-Jek recalled. "People started lining up on the side of the road. The
next thing I knew, the police came, telling us to get on the ground."
Jek-Jek and 20 other residents of San Roque were arrested on April 1 and
charged with violating quarantine protocol, disobedience and illegal assembly.
Relief goods arrive at a low-income community in Quezon City for
distribution earlier this month. Critics warn that the Philippine government's
heavy-handed approach to the public health emergency is criminalizing the
poor for violating quarantine protocols that are impossible for them to follow,
quashing their legitimate pleas for food and economic aid, and putting them at
risk of infection in cramped detention centers.
"While they were in police custody, there was no social distancing. There
were no proper hygiene facilities or supplies. Doesn't their arrest defeat the
purpose of stopping the spread of the virus?" said Kristina Conti of the
National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL) and lawyer for the San Roque.
Heavy-handed approach
Police data shows that 42,826 arrests were made in the first 11 days of
the country's enhanced community quarantine
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Bernard Banac confirmed to
Al Jazeera that the arrests were due to alleged violation of quarantine policies
like curfew, mass gathering and social distancing.
Police authorities said they had initially decided to be lenient with people
who breached the quarantine out of compassion and due to a "lack of jail
facilities", but they could not continue to be easy-going.
"Based on our assessment, the number of curfew violators will just
continue to rise if we become lenient on them. Our message to the public is
clear: we will continue to arrest any person who will violate the curfew," said
PNP Deputy Chief for Operations Guillermo Eleazar in a statement.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared the enhanced community
quarantine in the main Philippine island of Luzon on March 17. Public
transportation was suspended, commercial establishments were closed, and
checkpoints set up to seal off city borders.
 The government announced a 200 billion peso ($3.9bn) economic cushion
designed to tide citizens over during the quarantine.
But implementation has been bogged down by complicated administrative
processes and bureaucratic confusion arising from conflicting and overlapping
roles of different government agencies.
"Now is not the time to fine-tune the criteria of who is deserving of
government aid and who is not. During this period of intensified and
widespread poverty, they are all deserving," said Maria Victoria Raquiza, a
professor of public administration at the University of the Philippines.
Similar quarantine measures were implemented in various provinces,
leaving everyday life and the economy in limbo.
"Home quarantine is impossible for people in urban poor communities,"
said Conti, the San Roque 21 lawyer.
"Some of their homes are the size of someone's bathroom, and more than
one family lives there. They mostly work in 'no work, no pay' jobs in
construction, transport, and street selling. Without timely government aid, they
will go out to look for food or ways to make money," added Conti.
'Taking advantage'
In an interview, Rannie Ludovica of the Quezon City police defended the
arrest of the San Roque 21 and accused the urban poor group, Kalipunan ng
Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY), of having organised a rally that day,
"blatantly taking advantage of the current crisis" and violating the rule
prohibiting mass gatherings.

Local district workers unload bags of relief goods in a low-income

community in Quezon City
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has been criticised for the slow and
unequal distribution of food aid to needy communities. Ludovica admitted that
only about 2,500 of the 7,000 families in San Roque had been given food aid
but said, "These things take time. We are doing everything we can."
Addressing the nation after the arrest of the San Roque 21, Duterte
accused KADAMAY of instigating social unrest and issued a warning to
"troublemakers".

"I will not hesitate to have my soldiers shoot you," Duterte said.
KADAMAY denied the accusation and said the assembly was
spontaneous, caused by the rumour spread that there would be food
distribution, which people responded to in their desperation and plain hunger.
"The president is always boasting about what his police and military can
do. We're not scared of him. Hunger and the virus will kill us before bullets
will," said Bea Arellano, KADAMAY chairperson.
An extension of the quarantine to the end of the month has made the
situation even direr.
On April 5, 19 vegetable vendors were arrested for illegal selling.
They said they were only selling their goods because they were afraid to
go hungry.
The day before, a 63-year old man was shot dead after threatening
village officials and police with a scythe at a checkpoint in the southern
province of Agusan Norte. The incident is the first reported case of the
police shooting a civilian for refusing to follow lockdown restrictions.
What about health?
Experts say that from a security and logistical standpoint, the use of law
enforcement during a pandemic may be warranted.
"The military has the largest, most capable, most flexible assets for the
transport of much-needed supplies throughout the country," said defense
analyst Jose Antonio Custodio.
However, the appointment of former high-ranking military officers to lead
the national taskforce for COVID-19 has meant the Philippines is taking a
largely punitive approach to address a public health emergency.
 "As the top leadership is staffed by ex-military officers, the tendency to use
threats and force to address problems of discontent arising from the
quarantine has sometimes backfired. The leadership of the Health
Department is sorely missed and is seen as being not in step with the needs
on the ground," said Custodio.
As of April 13, the Philippines have a recorded 4,932 COVID-19 cases -
the highest in Southeast Asia - and 315 deaths. Thousands are in hospitals
awaiting testing or test results. Some test results are released after the
patient has died, adding to an underreported number of infections.
"The Philippines, because of the lockdown, is not experiencing so-called
large-scale community outbreak," World Health Organization (WHO) Western
Pacific Regional Director Takesgu Kasai said in an interview.
Sceptics say the low number of cases is because of the low rate of testing.
The Philippines lags behind its regional neighbors in terms of testing and is
only going to roll out a more aggressive programme from April 14.
Manila has millions of homeless, some of whom have found shelter during
the lockdown with churches and schools. The government has maintained
that quarantine measures and their extension are necessary to increase
testing capacity and prepare quarantine facilities.
"Our lockdown has been effective in pushing down the curve [of infections]
toward a one-month delay. It gave us time to improve our medical services,"
Secretary Carlito Galvez said in a news briefing.
However, aid has not come fast enough to buy time for the estimated 15.6
million workers in the informal economy for which survival is a daily struggle.
And then there are the homeless - an estimated 4.5 million Filipinos who
might also be working in the grey economy. Close to 70 percent of the
homeless population are in Metro Manila and survive by begging, or collecting
and reselling plastic and metal scraps.

2 LEGAL CASE: THE BAYANIHAN TO HEAL AS ONE ACT REPUBLIC ACT 11469
AN ACT DECLARING THE EXISTENCE OF A NATIONAL EMERGENCY
ARISING FROM THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) SITUATION AND
A NATIONAL POLICY IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, AND AUTHORIZING THE
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES FOR A LIMITED PERIOD
AND SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS, TO EXERCISE POWERS NECESSARY AND
PROPER TO CARRY OUT THE DECLARED NATIONAL POLICY AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

SPECIFIC TOPIC
(aa) Direct all banks, quasi banks, financing companies, lending companies and
other financial institutions, public and private, including the Government Service
Insurance System, Social Security System and PAG-IBIG Fund , to implement a
minimum of thirty (30)-day grace period for the payment of all loans, including but
not limited to salary, personal, housing, and motor vehicle loans, as well as credit
card payments, falling due within the enhanced Community Quarantine without
incurring interests, penalties, fees, or other charges. Persons with multiple loans
shall likewise be given a minimum of thirty (30)-day grace period for every loan.
AMPLIFICATIONS
The specific topic under R.A. 11469 talks about the thirty (30)-day grace period
of financing companies, public or private, including all the banks in the Philippines.
A grace period is a set length of time after the due date during which payment may be
made without penalty, typically of 15 days, is commonly included in mortgage loan and
insurance contracts. It is the time between the end of a billing cycle (also known as a
“statement date”) and the day your payment is due. During this time, no interest accrues
to your outstanding balance—so long as you pay the balance off the balance in full by
the due date. This thirty (30)-day grace period is a big help to cope with the financial
budgeting of each Filipino family in the country, especially to the members of the
families who have multiple loans and receiving the lowest salary they could get, their
budget wouldn’t be enough if they are receiving 10% of their salary. Most loans, vehicle
or housing have their interests, penalties, fees and other charges, it was good that this
act addresses the companies for housing and vehicle loans to not charge any interest or
penalties. After three weeks of the quarantine period, teachers and other government
workers have received a message from GSIS that they will be able to receive a refund
from their loans. This is a very kind gesture of the government as we face this pandemic
together, considering we are not sure when the quarantine will be lifted up and when will
things get back to normal. (30)-day grace period might not be enough if this quarantine
extends till December. But I am hopeful, that we, the government will face this battle
together.

3 .2019 NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (2019-nCoV): STRATEGIC PREPAREDNESS AND

RESPONSE PLAN
Risk assessment
WHO assesses the risk to be very high for China, high at the regional level, and
high at the global level. Factors taken into consideration include: • Likelihood of further
spread: Human-to-human transmission, including transmission within families and
healthcare settings, has been confirmed within Wuhan, and in several cities outside
China. The outbreak continues to grow within China at a rapid rate, and now affects all
31 provincial-level administrative regions. Ordinarily high volumes of domestic and
international travel have been increased further by travel linked to Lunar New Year
celebrations. Imported cases continue to be reported internationally, with several
reported cases of secondary transmission now confirmed in countries outside of China.
Limited testing capacity in many countries globally, non-specific symptoms of
2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease (the disease caused by 2019-nCoV infection), and
co-circulation of other respiratory pathogens are factors that can complicate efforts to
detect the virus quickly. • Potential impact on human health: The virus can cause severe
illness and death, although most cases appear to be mild. However, many uncertainties
remain, including the full extent of the current outbreak within China, and the full clinical
spectrum of illness, including the prevalence of mildly symptomatic cases. •
Effectiveness of current preparedness and response measures: China has dedicated
substantial resources to public health control measures and clinical management, and
has taken action that has included the quarantine of cities, and the widespread
suspension of transport links between population centres. It will be important to
continually assess the extent to which measures are effective and the need to adapt
measures as the situation evolves. Up to now, countries that have reported an imported
case have demonstrated efficient and effective disease surveillance and response
measures. However, some countries are less prepared to detect and respond to an
imported case. Rumours, misconceptions, and misinformation disseminated online via
social media can have a negative impact on response measures and health-seeking
behaviors.
Recommendations of the Emergency Committee On 30 January 2020, the
Director-General of WHO declared the 2019-nCoV outbreak a public health emergency
of international concern under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005),
following advice from the Emergency Committee. The Director-General and Emergency
Committee issued temporary recommendations1 to the People’s Republic of China and
to other countries. The Emergency Committee also provided advice to WHO, and
welcomed a forthcoming WHO-led multidisciplinary and multi-partner technical mission
to China. The mission will review and support efforts to investigate the animal source of
the outbreak, the clinical spectrum of the disease and its severity, the extent of
human-to-human transmission in the community and in healthcare facilities, and efforts
to control the outbreak. This mission will provide information to the international
community to aid in understanding the situation, its impact, and effective public health
measures to respond to the virus. The Committee recommended that WHO should
continue to use its networks of technical experts to assess how best this outbreak can
be contained globally, and intensify support for preparation and response, especially in
vulnerable countries and regions.
RESPONSE STRATEGY
Taking the above into account, the strategic objectives of the plan are to: • Limit
human-to-human transmission, including reducing secondary infections among close
contacts and healthcare workers, preventing transmission amplification events, and
preventing further international spread from China; • Identify, isolate, and care for
patients early, including providing optimized care for infected patients; • Identify and
reduce transmission from the animal source; • Address crucial unknowns regarding
clinical severity, extent of transmission and infection, treatment options, and accelerate
the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines; • Communicate critical risk
and event information to all communities, and counter misinformation; • Minimize social
and economic impact through multispectral partnerships.
These objectives can be achieved by: A) Rapidly establishing international
coordination to deliver strategic, technical, and operational support through existing
mechanisms and partnerships; B) Scaling up country preparedness and response
operations, including strengthening readiness to rapidly identify, diagnose and treat
cases; identification and follow-up of contacts when feasible (with priority given to
high-risk settings such as healthcare facilities); infection prevention and control in
healthcare settings; implementation of health measures for travelers; and awareness
raising in the population though risk communication and community engagement. C)
Accelerating priority research and innovation to support a clear and transparent global
process to set research and innovation priorities to fast track and scale-up research,
development, and the equitable availability of candidate therapeutics, vaccines, and
diagnostics. This will build a common platform for standardized processes, protocols
and tools, to facilitate multidisciplinary and collaborative research integrated with the
response. The response strategy is based on several planning assumptions. Owing to
the considerable uncertainty surrounding the extent of the outbreak within China, the
transmissibility of the virus, and the clinical spectrum of the disease, it will be necessary
to regularly update these assumptions as gaps in our knowledge of the disease are
filled. The current response plan assumes that human-to-human transmission takes
place, and that it may be amplified in specific settings, including healthcare facilities. We
also assume that human-to-human transmission is widespread within Hubei, and
possibly other population centers in China. It is expected that cases will continue to be
exported to other countries while the outbreak continues in China. While the response
emphasis will be to rapidly identify and isolate imported cases, there is a risk of clusters
of cases caused by localized community transmission outside China. In some cases,
countries may require operational assistance to strengthen their capacity to detect and
respond to these imported cases. However, there remain significant uncertainties
around the potential for more widespread transmission outside China, and it will
therefore be necessary to have contingency plans in place to mitigate the challenges
this would present.

3.
DepEd Personnel to Join LGUs’ COVID-19 Activities

Updated April 1, 2020, 7:47 AM

By Merlina Hernando-Malipot 

The Department of Education (DepEd) announced that its personnel may join in
the activities initiated by local government units (LGUs) in response to the COVID-19
outbreak.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones, said that both teaching and non-teaching
personnel of the department may participate in the activities led by LGUs in a “voluntary
and personal capacity.”
 Briones also noted that the Dep-Ed personnel who will participate in the activities
led by LGUs in response to COVID-19 situation should be “under the supervision of the
LGU and (comply with) the alternative work-from-home and skeletal work force
arrangements as provided by Malacañang.”

DepEd stressed that the concerned LGU must provide proper training and
ensure the safety and health of the DepEd personnel by providing the necessary
personal protective equipment (PPE), alcohol, sanitizers and other disinfectants. LGUs
should also ensure the implementation of stringent social distancing measures and
timely payment of remuneration.

Follow protocols

Briones said that LGUs are also requesting DepEd to allow the use of public
schools as COVID-19 isolation sites.

Moreover, some LGUs ask teaching and non-teaching personnel of DepEd to

help conduct activities in response to the COVID-19 outbreak such as the distribution of
food stubs to families of public school pupils and students.

Briones also reminded that all DepEd personnel involved in the preparation of the
school premises “shall strictly observe all existing health precautions and social
distancing protocols” of the Department of Health (DOH) and DepEd.

Participation of DepEd personnel in said activities of the LGU, Briones said,

“should be consistent with alternative work-from-home and skeletal work force
arrangements arising from the enforcement of enhanced community quarantine
measures.

Briones directed the DepEd Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM)
coordinators to provide support in monitoring the voluntary participation of DepEd
personnel in activities of the LGUs.

“Offsite monitoring shall be undertaken in view of social distancing precautionary

measures, unless physical monitoring is necessary and feasible,” she said.

1. COVID-19: FOUR FIFTHS OF CASES ARE ASYMPTOMATIC, CHINA FIGURES

INDICATE
BMJ 2020; 369 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1375 (Published 02 April 2020)Cite this
as: BMJ 2020;369:m1375

New evidence has emerged from China indicating that the large majority of coronavirus
infections do not result in symptoms.

Chinese authorities began publishing daily figures on 1 April on the number of new coronavirus
cases that are asymptomatic, with the first day’s figures suggesting that around four in five
coronavirus infections caused no illness. Many experts believe that unnoticed, asymptomatic
cases of coronavirus infection could be an important source of contagion.

A total of 130 of 166 new infections (78%) identified in the 24 hours to the afternoon of
Wednesday 1 April were asymptomatic, said China’s National Health Commission. And most of
the 36 cases in which patients showed symptoms involved arrivals from overseas, down from
48 the previous day, the commission said.

China is rigorously testing arrivals from overseas for fear of importing a fresh outbreak of covid-
19.

Users of Chinese social media have expressed fears that carriers with no symptoms could be
spreading the virus unknowingly, especially now that infections have subsided and authorities
have eased curbs on travel for people in previous hotspots in the epidemic.
Zhong Nanshan, a senior medical adviser to the Chinese government, said that asymptomatic
infections would not be able to cause another major outbreak of covid-19 if such people were
kept in isolation. Officials have said this is usually for 14 days.

Nanshan said that once asymptomatic infected people were identified, they and their contacts
would be isolated

New evidence has emerged from China indicating that the large majority of coronavirus
infections do not result in symptoms.

Chinese authorities began publishing daily figures on 1 April on the number of new coronavirus
cases that are asymptomatic, with the first day’s figures suggesting that around four in five
coronavirus infections caused no illness. Many experts believe that unnoticed, asymptomatic
cases of coronavirus infection could be an important source of contagion.

China is rigorously testing arrivals from overseas for fear of importing a fresh outbreak of covid-
19.

1. But since that WHO report other researchers, including Sergio Romagnani, a professor of
clinical immunology at the University of Florence, have said they have evidence that most
people infected by the virus do not show symptoms. Romagnani led the research that showed
that blanket testing in a completely isolated village of roughly 3000 people in northern Italy saw
the number of people with covid-19 symptoms fall by over 90% within 10 days by isolating
people who were symptomatic and those who were asymptomatic.
2. In an article on the website of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Jefferson and Carl
Heneghan, director of the centre and editor of BMJ EBM, write, “There can be little doubt that
covid-19 may be far more widely distributed than some may believe. Lockdown is going to
bankrupt all of us and our descendants and is unlikely at this point to slow or halt viral
circulation as the genie is out of the bottle.
“What the current situation boils down to is this: is economic meltdown a price worth paying to
halt or delay what is already amongst us?”

JOSE CONRAD C. BRAÑA

Zone 11-A Blk 9 Lot39 Fatima Uhaw General Santos City
0917 – 4921 – 613
[email protected]

Personal Data

Name: JOSE CONRAD C. BRAÑA

Sex: Male
Height: 175cm
Weight: 70
Date of Birth: May 15, 1995
 Age: 24
Status: Single
Religion: Baptist
Language Spoken: Tagalog, Hiligaynon, English

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:

Elementary: Dadianggas South Central Elementary School

Secondary: Holy Trinity College of General Santos City
Tertiary: Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Colleges. GSC
Course: BEED
Masters Degree: Sultan Kudarat State University
Course: Masters of Arts in Teaching – P.E (On going)

WORK EXPERIENCE:

2017-2018 --------- Romana Acharon Central Elementary School

2018-present -------- Surallah National Agricultural School