Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo M. Año on Thursday commended all 17 National Capital Region (NCR) local government units (LGUs) for passing ordinances restricting unvaccinated individuals within their jurisdictions as he joined the call of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) and the Regional Interagency Task Forces (RIATFs) in encouraging LGUs in the provinces to follow suit.
“Maraming salamat sa Metro Manila Mayors and City Councils sa agaran ninyong aksyon at pagtugon sa panawagan ni Pangulong (Rodrigo) Duterte at sa tawag ng pagkakataon ngayong panahon ng pandemya. Ito naman ay para na rin sa kapakanan ng lahat, bakunado man o hindi, at para hindi na lumubo ang mga Covid-19 cases sa ating bansa (To all Metro Manila Mayors and city councils, thank you for your swift action and response to the call of President Rodrigo Duterte and the call of the times amid this pandemic. This is for everyone’s welfare, vaccinated or not, in order to stem the surge in Covid-19 cases in our country),” Año said in a news release.
The LPP led by Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco earlier called on his member-provinces to pass similar ordinances in their respective provinces as a means to increase the vaccination coverage and protect the unvaccinated.
“Kasama ng LPP at ng RIATFs, nananawagan rin kami sa mga LGUs sa labas ng Metro Manila na kumilos na rin at magpasa ng mga ordinansang katulad nito. Let us all move in one pace so that we can collectively surmount the threat of Omicron (Together with LPP and RIATFs, we call on all LGUs outside Metro Manila to act and pass similar ordinances like this one),” Año added.
Año said among the 17 LGUs in Metro Manila that have passed their policies on the unvaccinated, 14 have approved their ordinances.
The cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Manila, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Quezon, San Juan, Valenzuela, Makati, Navotas, Parañaque, and the municipality of Pateros. Meanwhile, Las Piñas City, Pasay City, and Taguig City issued executive orders restricting the movement of the unvaccinated.
Among the ordinances passed are: Ordinance No. 01-2022 “An Ordinance Regulating the Mobility of Unvaccinated individuals within the Territorial Jurisdiction of Malabon City”; Ordinance No. 002 Series of 2022 “An Ordinance Providing for Guidelines on the Mobility of Unvaccinated lndividuals in the City of Marikina.”; City Ordinance No. 1, Series of 2022 “An Ordinance Providing for the Enhanced Vaccination Mandate to Regulate the Mobility of Unvaccinated Individuals Within the Territorial Jurisdiction of San Juan City and Providing Penalties for the Violation Thereof”; and, Valenzuela City Ordinance No. 976 Series of 2022 dated January 4, 2022 “An Ordinance lmposing Enhanced Restrictions to Regulate the Mobility of Unvaccinated lndividuals during Alert Level 3 or Higher Classification, Imposing Penalties for Violation Thereof, and for Other Purposes.”
“Malaking bagay itong mga ordinansa na ito na ipinasa ng ating mga LGU sa Metro Manila (The enactment of these ordinances by these LGUs in Metro Manila is very important). Through these ordinances, we are protecting the unvaccinated from the threat of Covid and we are preventing our health care system from being overwhelmed,” he said.
He said that their support and encouragement to the local governments will spell the difference in the country’s continuing fight against Covid-19.
“We need to act in unison and quickly because the health and lives of our people are at stake. Sa bandang huli, ang pinakamahalaga naman ay mapangalagaan natin ang kalusugan at kapakanan ng mga mamamayan, lalo na iyong mga at risk (In the end, the most important thing is for us to safeguard the health and welfare of our people, especially those who are at risk),” he said.
The DILG Secretary said the passage of the ordinances gives added teeth to the Department’s directive to barangay officials to compile a list of unvaccinated individuals in their respective barangays.
“This directive by the DILG is neither unconstitutional nor violative of a person’s right to privacy because the data of unvaccinated persons are being collected for a legitimate purpose and that is to address the latest wave of Covid-19 infection under Alert Level 3,” he said,
He said that the DILG’s policy is neither unconstitutional nor violative of a person’s right to privacy” since it is within the bounds of Republic Act 10173 or the “Data Privacy Act of 2012” which allows the processing of personal information for a legitimate purpose, and RA 11332 or the “Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.”
He also assured the Commission on Human Rights that the inventory will not be published or released to the public and will only serve as a reference by the barangays in implementing the ordinances passed by LGUs.
“In this regard, the data identifying unvaccinated individuals is needed by the State to properly implement quarantine protocols needed to protect the unvaccinated as well as to protect the health system from being overwhelmed,” he said.
Duterte earlier ordered the restriction of the unvaccinated as a means to address the national emergency caused by the surge in infections.
“I am now giving orders to the [village chiefs] to look for those persons who are not vaccinated and just request them or order them, if you may, to stay put,” he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
