Netizens and personalities share their opinions regarding the Government’s threat to arrest anyone who refuses to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

On Monday, June 21, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte in his public address made a terrifying statement: he will order state forces to arrest individuals who refuse to be inoculated by the Covid-19 vaccine.

“Don’t get me wrong. There is a crisis being faced in this country. There is a national emergency,” the president said. “Mamili kayo, magpabakuna kayo o ipakulong ko kayo sa selda?”

Duterte was tired of hearing Filipinos refusing to receive their respective vaccine shots when the Government only wants is to avoid everyone become a carrier of the lethal virus.

“Don’t force my hand into it…Kung hindi kayo magpabakuna, umalis kayo sa Pilipinas. Go to India if you want or somewhere in America. But for as long as you are here, and you are a human being who can carry the virus, eh magpabakuna ka.

“Otherwise, I will order the barangay captains to have a tally of the people who refuse to be vaccinated,” insisted the President.

However, on social media such as Twitter, netizens and personalities do not agree with the method the President is resorting to.

Comparing to Vice President Leni Robredo who used incentives to encourage Filipinos to receive their jabs, a Twitter personality noted that this method should be used instead of instilling fear among the public.

Blogger Ron Mia highlighted the effectiveness of Robredo’s plan to reward those who accept their Covid-19 jabs instead of resorting to threats.

A Twitter personality even asked Duterte’s loyal supporters, the DDS, to answer who has the better way of encouraging the public to get inoculated.

James Banaag even lauded Robredo for her excellent idea of encouraging the public to get vaccinated. That instead of using threats, the VP rewards those who get their jabs by giving them a P500 worth of gas card.

John Paul Tanyag, a market surveillance analyst, also urged Duterte to follow Robredo’s initiative rather than scare the public.

Jules Guiang even called Duterte a “fear monger” due to his rampant use of threats for people to obey him. Since people are hesitant to get a vaccine shot due to its inaccessibility and misconceptions about side effects. Adding threats coming from the leader of the country would only lead to yet another layer of fear.

Dr. Jai Cabajar shared his observation as to why individuals doubt vaccines—lack of guidance. Cabajar insisted that Duterte should be a guide to the public, to educate them, and eradicate the misconceptions about vaccines.

[Subheading] Vaccine supply is the problem, not hesitancy

Senator Nancy Binay made it clear on Tuesday that the inadequate vaccine supply must be first addressed before the Government starts forcing the public to get inoculated.

“Remember may problema tayo sa supply. It’s not as if ayaw ng mga kababayan natin magpabakuna,” pointed Binay in ANC interview.

Binay even cited reports stating that Manileños were camping outside vaccination sites just to receive their own vaccine doses, strengthening her explanation that vaccine hesitancy is the main problem.

“So at this point, I think vaccine hesitancy is not the problem. Vaccine supply is the biggest problem so we need to arrest that,” noted the senator.

However, Binay could not deny the fact that there are still some who doubt the effectiveness and safeness of vaccines. Nevertheless, the supply of vaccines should be prioritized first.

“At this point, nandiyan pa rin ‘yung vaccine hesitancy but for me ‘yung urgent need right now is you need to have more supply of the vaccine,” she added.

[Subheading] But is there really a law?

Former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commissioner, Goyo Larrazabal, posed two questions regarding the recent threat of Duterte:

  1. Are there enough vaccines to make vaccination mandatory for all Filipinos? and;
  2. What law is being violated by refusing to be vaccinated?

These questions were answered by Malacañang on Tuesday, June 22. Through Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, the Palace made it clear that in order for Duterte’s threat to be a reality, a law must first be passed.

“Para mapatupad ‘yan, kinakailangan ng batas,” clarified Roque in a regular press briefing.

Aside from Duterte’s threat, he also made a remark that those who do not want to get vaccinated might as well go to India or be given ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug for animals.

Roque brushed this statement of the President and suggested that the public should not take it seriously.

“Do not take him literally. He was just saying, go to other jurisdictions because, in the Philippines, we want our people to be vaccinated,” he explained.

Even the Department of Justice (DOJ) reiterated Roque’s statement that there is indeed no law criminalizing the refusal to get vaccinated.

“As a lawyer, he knows that not getting vaccinated is a legal choice; there is no law as yet that compels vaccination against COVID-19, much less criminalizes it (not getting vaccinated), as presently available vaccines are still in their trial phases,” stressed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.

However, Guevarra justified Duterte’s threat as being “passionate”.

“I believe that the President merely used strong words to drive home the need for us to get vaccinated and reach herd immunity as soon as possible,” he added.

Still, under Philippine laws, an act is not considered a crime and no one is criminally responsible unless a law says so at the time it was committed.

Although refusing to get inoculated may not be a crime, violating health protocols still warrants arrest, as said by Guevarra.

“Not getting vaccinated and not following health protocols are two entirely different things. Getting vaccinated is not mandatory but complying with health protocols is mandatory.

“There is no law or ordinance that penalizes non-vaccination but there are existing laws and ordinances that penalize non-compliance with health protocols.”