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Only one business day the government decree granting powers to municipal officials to act in the state of emergency reached the Comptroller’s Office. It was Friday at 7:30 p.m. when he entered the offices of Teatinos 56, and yesterday at the same time it was when he was removed.
The creation of this decree was announced last week, in La Moneda, by President Sebastián Piñera, where he pointed out that “we have discussed support with the mayors to be able to give more muscle, more resources, to the fundamental work that the municipalities carry out” . Nevertheless, the initiative found criticism in some mayors, and also in opposition parliamentarians. Yesterday, Senators Felipe Harboe (PPD) and José Miguel Insulza (PS) contested these provisions, since they considered that it could affect constitutional instances.
The Third PM he agreed to the controversial five cheeks document, signed by President Piñera, Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel, and Defense Minister Alberto Espina. Decree 201 starts by stating that in its heading that “it gives instructions to the heads of the National Defense to arrange for the collaboration of municipal officials with the Armed Forces and Public Order and Security, which motivated the declaration of a state of constitutional exception of catastrophe in national territory ”.
Nine points are listed below as a recital, where the current context of the country in the midst of the emergency is exposed. “On the occasion of the Covid-19 outbreak that affects the country, a series of necessary measures have been established for the control of the health emergency, the limitation of movements and the maintenance of public order, which must be audited and controlled to its effectiveness in the stated objective. Compliance with these measures by the population is essential for the control of infections, but to date more than 32 thousand arrests have been generated for infringement of isolation measures (…) and quarantines ordered by the health authority, according to Carabineros information “, is exposed in its point three.
Subsequently, the government indicates that in a state of emergency The chiefs of the National Defense are the ones who give the operational instructions “to all the officials of the State, their companies or the municipalities that are in the area., with the sole purpose of remedying the effects of public calamity. “
Explained the above, the government proposed the creation of three articles to strengthen the work of municipal inspectors, which, as mayors and parliamentarians Harboe and Insulza have explained, do not have constitutional power to carry out law enforcement.
In the first article it was stated that “the heads of the National Defense (…) will directly issue instructions to the municipal officials who are in their respective areas and in accordance with the inspection functions granted by the law “, adding that, “these measures mean isolation, quarantines, sanitary cords, sanitary customs and operating bans established by the competent authority, as well as the sanitary measures arranged for the operation of commercial establishments and places of free access to the public ”.
In the second article, the government addressed collaboration with the prosecution. Here it was pointed out that “the heads of the National Defense will directly issue instructions to the aforementioned municipal officials (…) -in which case- they detect a violation of the health provisions and report them to the Public Ministry ”. And finally, in point three of the decree, it was established that the duration of the decree would only run while the state of constitutional exception was in force.
In the government they affirm that the decree did not specify what powers the municipalities would have, because it was established that the heads of defense would instruct this matter and it was left to the discretion of each zone chief according to the reality they faced. In any case, they point out that they were thinking of functions related to reviewing that trade regulations and the provision of vehicles were being complied with so that public officials could move around.
In this sense, in the Executive they emphasize that the municipalities were never thought to have the power to arrest people, since that, they say, corresponds only to the police. That yes, in the government they recognize that in the original decree that they were going to send – not the one that ended up entering on Friday – the possibility of arresting people in flagrante delicto was established, only in those cases. This, they emphasize, is what the law allows anyone, but that ultimately did not remain due to a recommendation made by the Comptroller.
Along these lines, they affirm that Interior has been in talks with the agency, although they believe that there is some resistance from the Comptroller’s Office to grant more powers to the municipalities. Connoisseurs of the process indicated that the comptroller was warned that the municipal inspectors would not be empowered to control people, nor the compliance with quarantines. In the case of trade control, there could be some possibility, although this should be done through a law and not through a decree.
In this scenario, La Moneda assures that the changes they will make to the decree aim to simplify it and adhere to the Organic Law, which establishes certain powers for the defense chiefs so that they can instruct. Thus, they emphasize that unlike before, the instructions will be in relation to what the organic law establishes and that, according to that, the collaboration of the municipalities regarding sanitary measures will be required.
The decree with the corrections, affirm the same sources, will be entered between today or tomorrow. Similarly, in the Palace they emphasize that this decree is not the only one to give powers to the municipalities, but there is also the Health decree.
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