Vaccination cards are pictured at a rural coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination site in Columbus, New Mexico, U.S., April 16, 2021. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has once again reminded mayors that an individual’s vaccination status should not be used as a prerequisite for employment, education, and other government transactions.
Garcia on June 13 signed Memorandum No. 13-2022, instructing local chief executives here to avoid using COVID-19 vaccination cards as a requirement.
“You are reminded to refrain from implementing or supporting policies that make vaccination mandatory for educational, employment, and other similar government purposes,” Garcia stated in her memo.
The governor also told mayors that their respective Rural Health Units (RHUs) should not discriminate unvaccinated teachers, students or parents and officials of the Department of Education (DepEd).
Garcia pointed to the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 (Republic Act No. 11525) as the basis for creating her recent memo.
“Pursuant to Republic Act No. 11525, otherwise known as the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, COVID-19 vaccination shall not be considered as an additional mandatory requirement for educational, employment, and other similar government transaction purposes,” she explained.
This was not the first time that the governor issued a similar memo related to COVID-19 vaccination statuses.
In 2021, Garcia also issued a similar memo in line with the resumption of face-to-face classes in selected public schools in Cebu province.
Back then, the DepEd’s national office required teachers to get themselves inoculated against COVID-19 to curb the spread of the virus while returning to in-person classes.
Garcia’s recent memo came just a few days after she issued Executive Order (EO) No. 16 that makes face masks optional in outdoor settings, a move that turned out to be controversial as it runs contrary to the mandates of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF).
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