Concepcion on jab for jobs: Certain rights must be set aside for greater good

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion III on Wednesday affirmed his support for the mandatory vaccination of employees against COVID-19, saying that some rights will have to be set aside for the greater good.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, Concepcion said many rights are already being violated due to the pandemic.

“Why are we so focused on rights when the rights at the current state today amidst the pandemic are already being violated. We’re not allowing certain people to go to these places, et cetera, there are already rules,” he said.

“So certain rights will have to be pushed aside. This is for the greater good of all Filipino people to keep everyone safe, including the unvaccinated, who are of the highest risk at this point in time,” he added.

Concepcion issued the remark when asked about his stand on workers being required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 for them to be hired or remain hired.

The Department of Labor and Employment has clarified that terminating employees is prohibited if the only reason is their being unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice also said it has told the Inter-Agency Task Force that employees are not required to be vaccinated.

“When you are in a pandemic, certain rights are already being tried. What is the right? you are closing down businesses. So by closing down businesses, you are violating the rights of a person or the person who started that business,” Concepcion said.

“By depriving him of generating income to be able to pay his obligations is a serious claim no? but the entire world is doing it,” he added.

Concepcion also stressed the importance of vaccination, saying that the private sector had worked together to convince employees of the benefits of getting vaccinated.

On Wednesday, the Philippines logged 1,591 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily number of infections reported since February. — BM, GMA News