Senate President Vicente Sotto III. Senate PRIB file photo
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday opposed restrictions against unvaccinated individuals, saying imposing such is “utterly wrong.”
In a tweet, Sotto pointed to a supposed proposal disallowing unvaccinated persons from “certain places.”
“What about recovered unvaxxed? Vaxxed can carry virus ah!” he stressed.
IATF Proposed sec 4 disallowing unvaxxed to certain places is utterly wrong. What about recovered unvaxxed? Vaxxed can carry virus ah!
— Tito Sotto (@sotto_tito) August 2, 2021
“We should not force our people to be vaccinated if they refuse. Last time I heard this [is] a free country!” he said in another tweet.
The Senate leader mentioned that the supposed proposal came from the government’s pandemic task force.
But so far, only an executive order issued by Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan imposes such restrictions.
Section 4 of the said order bars persons who have yet to receive COVID-19 vaccines from entering shopping malls, convenience and grocery stores, and public markets starting Aug. 25.
However, this received backlash from Lapu-Lapu City residents, which prompted the mayor to look into the matter further.
“I will assess and weigh Section 4 of my executive order, and in the coming days, I will make a decision on this,” Chan had said.
Meanwhile, Malacañang clarified that it is not yet time for a “no vaccine, no entry” policy in establishments considering many have yet to receive their COVID-19 vaccine doses.
As of Monday, over nine million individuals have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the Philippines.