NUPL: No legal basis for Duterte order restricting movement of unvaccinated people

President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to restrict the movement of unvaccinated individuals has no legal basis and could be prone to abuse, a group of human rights lawyers said Thursday.

In his weekly address to the nation on COVID-19 response on Wednesday, Duterte ordered police and barangay officials to escort unvaccinated people back to their homes and not let them roam around.

He described those who refuse to get vaccinated as “walking spreaders.”

But National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) president Edre Olalia said Duterte’s directive was not covered by any law or ordinance.

“There is no legal basis to arrest, much less detain, an unvaccinated person because this circumstance is not a crime nor a misdemeanor that is penalized by any law or ordinance,” Olalia said.

Restricting movements may be acceptable “in the interest of public health,” the NUPL official said, but this kind of measure “must not amount to actual prohibition especially under pain of punishment, which is open to legal challenge.”

“Also, while we agree that firm - not strong-arm - measures must be employed to arrest the pandemic, invoking ‘law of necessity’ is dangerous as it is nebulous and can be subjective and arbitrary and, therefore, open to abuse and misuse,” Olalia added. 

GMA News Online sought Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra’s reaction to the President’s latest remarks, but he has yet to respond as of posting time.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said the order was meant to allow vaccinated people to work in the event of a lockdown.

“Delta variant is here, it is tough to implement lockdown because we don’t want people to go hungry. The President’s idea is if we are going to impose a lockdown, [dapat] puwede palabasin ang mga bakunado para magtrabaho,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.

“Those who are vaccinated should be able to go to work even if we are on lockdown,” he added.

Some 7.2 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Wednesday, according to government data.

Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights on Friday urged the government to address the vaccine supply and public’s hesitancy as they noted that restrictions against unvaccinated individuals may result in undue discrimination.

In a statement, CHR has cited government data on the number of vaccinated individuals in the country.

As of June 2019, the CHR noted that only 6.66% of the population, or about 7.2 million Filipinos, have been fully vaccinated, and only 10.48%, or about 11.43 million, of the population have received their first dose.

It also pointed out that the government has yet to vaccinate other priority groups, including the indigent population which was not covered by the A1 to A4 categories.

“With all these challenges, preventing unvaccinated individuals from leaving their homes may result in undue discrimination considering that there are reasons for being unvaccinated that are beyond their control,” the commission said.

“Such restrictions will ultimately have an impact to their abilities to cope with the effects of the pandemic, including effects to livelihoods and ability to fend for themselves in the absence of explicit proposals for aid while in isolation,” it added.

Apart from the vaccination program, the commission reminded the national government to improve the overall health system in the country which includes testing, tracing, and treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The CHR told the government anew that human rights must be the center of all its COVID-19 efforts.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has proven itself to be a complex threat to everyone. Our response has to be holistic and mindful that we need to heal and recover together, and not leave anyone behind,” the commission said.—with Hana Bordey/RSJ/AOL, GMA News