A vaccination card issued by Taguig City to inoculated individuals. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Escorting unvaccinated persons back to their homes is a “reasonable exercise of state power to protect public health,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Friday.
Drilon, however, emphasized that such exercise of power must be weighed carefully as many Filipinos remain unvaccinated because of the lack of vaccine supply in the country.
“It is correct that those unvaccinated should stay home. If they go out, the process of escorting them back to their homes is a reasonable exercise of state power to protect public health. Kailangan ito gawin para masugpo ang pagkalat ng Delta variant ng COVID-19, (We need to do this to curb the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant),” Drilon said in a statement.
The minority leader made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte stressed the need for a law that would bar unvaccinated persons from going out.
“There is no law, but the necessity is there,” Duterte said in a taped briefing aired Wednesday.
“I’ll answer for that. This is my order: You will be returned to your house. That’s my order. You will be returned to your house. I’ll face that. I assume full responsibility for that,” the President added.
Drilon, a former justice secretary, said it is “well within the power” of the state to restrict the movement of unvaccinated individuals but the law must first be passed if the government intends to punish, arrest, or jail unvaccinated individuals who are outside of homes.
“It is a valid and reasonable exercise of police power to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the people. The general welfare clause also provides sufficient authority to the state to implement measures for the ‘maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and promotion of the general welfare,'” he added.
Drilon added that the state may “interfere with personal liberty to promote the general welfare as long as the interference is reasonable and not arbitrary.”
Still, he called on the government to look into the factors why many Filipinos have yet to be vaccinated.
“It’s a policy call of the President but the government must look into factors why many Filipinos remain unvaccinated. Some areas have limited access to vaccines, slow roll or the vaccines available are not what the people prefer,” he said.
“Such measure must have the concomitant responsibility of the state to provide and make the vaccines available to the public,” he added.
Further, the senator stressed the need for a uniform vaccine card with basic security features to prevent tampering and forgery.
The Department of Health, in a briefing Friday, said “no distinction” will be made between those vaccinated and unvaccinated in terms of being allowed outdoors during the period of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila.
Earlier in the day, Malcañang announced that Metro Manila will be placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the government’s strictest quarantine status, from August 6 to 20, 2021.
In the meantime, Metro Manila will stay under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions this Friday until August 5.