MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday clarified that there is no law that compels mandatory vaccination or criminalizes refusal of inoculation.
This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte, in his public address on Monday, threatened those who refuse vaccination with jail time, insisting that the country is in a public health emergency.
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But Duterte admitted that he will “think it over very hard, legally,” but he still went on to say: “If you do not want it, I will have you arrested. That is in pursuance of a policy of our crisis of this health issue.”
Asked for the probable legal basis of the president’s latest orders, Guevarra explained: “I believe that the president merely used strong words to drive home the need for us to get vaccinated and reach herd immunity as soon as possible.”
“As a lawyer, he knows that not getting vaccinated is a legal choice; there is no law as yet that compels vaccination against COVID-19, much less criminalizes it (not getting vaccinated), as presently available vaccines are still in their trial phases,” he told reporters.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, in a Laging Handa briefing also on Monday, pointed out that vaccines are free and would need prior informed consent. She said that the president’s latest threat should be taken with the context that Duterte wants to “emphasize the point that vaccines are needed to help us move on and protect one another.”
The government has been encouraging the public to take part in COVID-19 vaccination, which is one of the most important tools to help end the pandemic.
Scientists said that developing immunity through vaccination means there is a reduced risk of getting severe COVID-19. Getting vaccinated may also protect other people around you.
Pandemic arrests
In March 2020, the government cited Republic Act 11332 or the “Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act” and disobedience to authorities under the Revised Penal Code as the legal basis for the arrest of quarantine violators.
More than a year later, the Departments of Justice and of the Interior and Local Government, and the Philippine National Police drew up guidelines on arrests, following Duterte’s order to detain those who are not wearing their face masks properly.
On June 1, the leadership of DOJ, DILG and PNP inked uniform guidelines on strict enforcement of safety protocols that also recommended open spaces for the detention of quarantine violators. — with reports from Gaea Katreena Cabico