Lacson, Sotto twit Duque's mandatory vaccination push | Inquirer News

Lacson, Sotto twit Duque’s mandatory vaccination push

By: - Contributor / @inquirerdotnet
04:21 PM April 06, 2022
Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson (left) and Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson (left) and Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III

MANILA, Philippines — Independent presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and his running mate, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, questioned Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s “push” for a law to make vaccination mandatory.

Duque had said it would be a welcome move if Congress “can muster that political will to make vaccination and booster mandatory” in the country.

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“He is passing the burden to us. Why is he talking about political will? Political will is not applicable if violation of human rights is involved,” said Lacson in a mix of Filipino and English, in an interview with reporters in Argao, Cebu on Wednesday.

“I do believe that forcing vaccination on a person is a violation of that person’s basic rights.”

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Lacson also pointed out Duque could have been proactive from the start of the vaccination program by conducting house-to-house campaigns along with a massive information drive.

For his part, Sotto said Duque’s call may be an attempt at face-saving.

Sotto said that while Congress will convene briefly after the May 9 elections, it will be mostly to act as the National Board of Canvassers – and there is little time if at all to pass pending bills.

“So I think that’s just an attempt at media mileage and face-saving because the DOH has had so many failures in handling the pandemic since March 2020,” he said.

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TAGS: Ping Lacson, Politics, Tito Sotto
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