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Friday, March 29, 2024

LGUs can force vaccination

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Local governments may exercise police power and enact laws that impose fines against their constituents who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said local government units (LGUs) may not need to wait for a law to be enacted by Congress to implement mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 within their jurisdiction.

“Local government units, through their legislative organs, may also exercise police power. For example, a local ordinance prohibiting video game arcades within a certain distance from schools is an exercise of police power,” Guevarra said in a text message.

“Theoretically, a local ordinance compelling all residents within the territory of the LGU to get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19 may be enacted even without a national law,” he added.

However, like any other law, Guevarra said, the legality or constitutionality of the ordinance may be questioned before a court.

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“But like all other laws and ordinances invoking police power, it may be challenged in court by anyone on the issue of reasonableness, among others,” he said.

In his public address Monday, President Duterte warned he could exercise the state’s police power to compel people to get vaccinated.

But Guevarra pointed out that a law is required if sanctions or penalties would be imposed in the exercise of police power.

“The President correctly invoked police power as the basis to compel… vaccination for everyone except those who have valid reasons. The power rests upon the inherent right of the State and the people to self-protection,” he said.

“But this power, especially if accompanied by penalties or sanctions to enforce obedience or compliance, must be exercised through the legislature,” he added.

Without an enabling law, Guevarra said the government may only urge, persuade or try to convince people to heed its call to get vaccinated.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, for her part, said passing such an ordinance is not a priority since vaccine hesitancy is low in Metro Manila's biggest city.

"It has become so much easier to convince people since the Delta surge occurred. So at present, speaking on behalf of Quezon City, I do not see this as a priority measure in terms of legislation," Belmonte told Manila Standard in a text message.

"We are also actively setting up community vaccination sites that are located in our urban poor communities to encourage more people to be vaccinated by bringing the service to them," Belmonte added.

The Philippines has already administered a total of 45,147,477 doses of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide, the government's task force on the pandemic response said on Thursday.

Based on the data from the National Covid-19 Vaccination dashboard, as of Sept. 29, a total of 21,103,317 Filipinos have already acquired full protection against the dreaded disease, while 24,044,260 are waiting to get their second dose.

The average daily jabs administered in the last seven days stood at 353,774 doses.

National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government has allotted 29 million doses for the vaccination of minors aged 12 to 17 years old.

The inoculation of adolescents will be piloted in five identified hospitals in Metro Manila.

Children with comorbidities will be prioritized in the test run of pediatric vaccination.

The Philippines has received a total of 71,324,50 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Sept. 30, with additional 883,350 Pfizer doses and another 2.5 million Sinovac –both purchased by the government – will be delivered on Friday.

Galvez said a total of 6,085,170 doses out of the 40 million doses of government-procured Pfizer jabs have been delivered to the country.

The country's Food and Drug Administration has initially approved the use of Pfizer and Moderna for pediatric vaccination, which will start on Oct. 15.

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