Presidential candidate, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, turns down the call of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to pass a legislation making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory. | Delta Dyrecka Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto thumbed down the call of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, for legislators to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory.
Sotto, who is in Cebu for his vice presidential campaign trail, said that the Senate simply could not and would not violate human rights for the sake of expiring vaccines.
He clarified that while he would advocate for complete vaccination against COVID-19, this could not be forced upon persons who had rights to their own bodies.
“My initial reaction was to tell Secretary Duque not to pass the ball to us. That’s their problem, they created their problem by procuring late. Kaya when di na kailangan, sumobra. Bakit kami ngayon ang sisira ng human rights? (So when it was not needed anymore, it (the supply) exceeded. Why would we now violate human rights?), “ said Sotto.
The Senate president said that they had no business forcing people to do something on their bodies that they would not consent to.
Also, he notes that there is only six Senate sessions left for their term, which is not enough to tackle a bill as controversial as mandatory vaccinations.
“We have only six session days. How can we pass a legislation like that when we are going to be converted into the National Canvassing Board. Hindi nag-isip bago bumitaw ng salita (He was not thinking when he said those words),” said the Senate president.
He urged the Health Secretary to rethink their strategy for distributing the vaccines instead of forcing it to the people at the expense of their rights.
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