REP. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. (NUP, Cavite) yesterday batted for the passage of a law that would protect all vaccinated individuals against those who will refuse to receive COVID-19 vaccines by making inoculation a requirement for employment and entry in different establishments.
Barzaga said he broached the idea because “unfortunately, we have observed the hesitancy (of many people) to accept a COVID-19 vaccine.”
He said that under the Constitution’s General Welfare clause, “the State is mandated to make rules and regulations to protect the lives of the majority of its citizens. A person who is not vaccinated is a risk to the lives of others and to the general community.”
“The State can therefore enact a general law protecting those who are vaccinated from those who are not vaccinated. While others might argue that such law shall be discriminatory — discriminating those vaccinated against those non-vaccinated — nonetheless there shall be no violation of the constitutional rights to due process and equal protection clause. Every individual therefore to avoid adverse consequences must allow themselves to be vaccinated,” he said.
Barzaga said that because of this, it would be “legal and constitutionally” accepted for an employer to issue a policy that only vaccinated applicants can be employed, for malls and restaurants to deny entry to those that were not inoculated and for schools to impose a restriction that its enrollees must be fully vaccinated.
“Even the right to travel shall be restricted,” he said. “COVID-19 is real and it has come closer to home. It has touched all of us, where every one of us has a parent, sibling, relative, friend, co-worker who has been infected by this deadly virus.”
Article II, Section 5 of the Constitution (Declaration of Principles and State Policies) states: “The maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and the promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy.”
Barzaga, president of the National Unity Party (NUP), said that while the number of those who want to be vaccinated is increasing, it will “not be enough to protect the population for as long as there are people who will continue to refuse inoculation.”
A survey of the University of the Philippines-OCTA Research Team last February showed that only 19 percent are willing to be vaccinated, 46 percent are unwilling and 35 percent are undecided.
He said that while the Constitution guarantees the right to life of every individual, “such right is subservient to the paramount interest of the lives of the greater majority.”
Barzaga argued that the State has no option but to protect those who are vaccinated, noting that the average direct medical cost is at least P400,000 for a four-day stay in the hospital by a patient suffering mild COVID-19.
“Unfortunately, this financial cost is nowhere near the total harm caused by the pandemic.
A great number of us are fearful of getting infected. We are subjected to restrictions on mobility but we all know that these measures are not enough. Social distancing, masking, basic COVID-19 protocols work but vaccination is an important key to stop this pandemic,” he said.
Taguig City Mayor Lino Cayetano said a portion of the population remains suspicious of potential side effects of various vaccine brands, regardless of assurances from health authorities.
Appearing on public briefing “Laging Handa,” he said that while ramping up the vaccine supply is the main problem, getting all people to take the shots will likewise have to be addressed down the road.
He said initial assessments detected a significant number of holdouts belong to the A2 priority group (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with comorbidities).
He said at the moment, all the local government can do is keep appealing to the public to listen to the Department of Health that vaccination is the key strategy in keeping everyone safe and, perhaps, ending the pandemic.
Cayetano expressed confidence that more shots will be available to be administered to those belonging in the A4 category or frontline workers in other essential sectors.
He said Taguig City has enough manpower and vaccine centers to rapidly deploy vaccines as soon as they are delivered.
Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, he said, the city has been operating a home care health program that caters to patients who are bed-ridden or those who have difficulty travelling.
In addition, he said, the city’s 31 heath centers in 28 barangays have a working tele-medicine system attended 24/7 by health professionals who can do off-site consultations and give advice. — With Peter Tabingo
