Palace rules out forced vaccination

The government will not force the public to get vaccinated for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles declared on Thursday to dispel apprehensions that some businesses adopted a “No vaccination, no work” policy to compel their employees to get a jab.

Nograles was reacting in particular to a statement by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas that he was considering requiring all those employed in the city to be vaccinated before being allowed to go to work.

“Hindi natin ipipilit ito, ‘yung vaccine sa ating mga kababayan (We will not force the vaccines on our countrymen),” Nograles said in a press briefing on Thursday.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd on Wednesday warned employers against firing workers who refuse to get inoculated.

Bello said a worker’s refusal for vaccination is not a ground for termination.

On Thursday, Bello said the government was giving the vaccine for free, and encouraged employers and establishments to follow the government’s lead.

The Labor department’s position is reflected in the draft guidelines on Covid-19 vaccination programs it is circulating to employers, labor groups and other stakeholders.

Under the proposed guidelines, “All costs of vaccination in the workplace shall be borne by the covered establishments and employers. The latter shall not pass on the cost, directly or indirectly, to the employees.”

Employees who refuse to get their shots should not be discriminated against or terminated from employment.

Alan Tanjusay, spokesman of Associated Labor Unions (ALU) confirmed that his group was provided a copy of the draft guidelines and had no objection to it.

“We saw there was no objection from the tripartite technical committee. I moved to approve the draft as it is and we expect it to be signed and disseminated to all regions nationwide,” Tanjusay said.

Labor information office director Rolly Francia said the draft guidelines will be signed by Bello on Friday.

Bello said a no vaccination, no work policy has no legal basis.

“It is not legal for employers to require employees to be vaccinated before they can enter the workplace. It will be considered illegal suspension or illegal dismissal whatever action the employer will do if the employee does not get vaccinated,” he said.

Sen. Emmanuel Joel Villanueva had called on the Department of Labor and Employment to issue guidelines against the policy to ensure that workers and employers stand on a level playing field.

Villanueva, who chairs the Senate labor committee, warned employers against forcing workers to be inoculated.

“A worker can be late for work and be penalized with salary deduction. But a government guilty of vaccine tardiness faces no such reprimand even if it causes the nation P2.8 billion in economic losses daily,” Villanueva said in a statement.

“A worker who is not yet immune from the virus shouldn’t lose his immunity from being fired arbitrarily. The biggest challenge at the moment for the labor-employer-government tripartite is not just to give more workers better vaccines but also to increase vaccine confidence,” he said.

Villanueva reiterated that workers should not be faulted for refusing to be inoculated if they have concerns about the vaccine that they would be getting. A recent survey found that 47 percent of Filipinos refuse vaccination largely due to safety issues.

“The challenge for our government right now is to increase the level of confidence of our people on the vaccines. There has to be a concerted effort to bring up the degree of trust on vaccines because the restoration of jobs lost in the pandemic, and to a larger extent, our economic recovery, depend on the success of the vaccination program,” Villanueva said.

Massive rollout

On Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte said the government was doing everything to ramp up its vaccination program to ensure the safety of students.

In his speech during the simultaneous inauguration of school buildings at the Gen. Gregorio H. Del Pilar Integrated School and Virginia Ramirez-Cruz High School in Bulakan, Bulacan, Duterte said he wanted to have a massive vaccine rollout first before letting children return to their classrooms.

The President in February rejected for the second time the pilot testing of limited face-to-face classes, which the Department of Education (DepEd) supported.

Nograles said Duterte wanted a “more rigorous, more widespread” vaccination before allowing limited in-person classes.

Duterte praised the DepEd, the Department of Public Works and Highways and the local government for the successful planning and construction of new school buildings.

He underscored the need to complete government infrastructure projects on time, directing all concerned agencies “to ensure the least inconvenience to the public during construction, while ensuring strict adherence to the highest standards of honesty and integrity and prevent corruption.”

WITH CATHERINE S. VALENTE AND JAVIER JOE ISMAEL