Local government units (LGUs) have the authority to impose the mandatory vaccination of their respective constituents, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Tuesday, Nov. 30, after President Duterte declared that he is open to force Filipinos to be inoculated amid the threat of a new variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said the Inter-Agency Task Force (ATF) is now discussing if COVID-19 vaccination in the country could be made mandatory.

“Yan ay isa sa mga tinatalakay natin. Ang gusto talaga ng Pangulo (Rodrigo Duterte) ay magkaroon ng mandatory vaccination. Pero, unang-una, wala pa tayong batas na na-legislate diyan (This is one of the issues we are tackling. What the President really wants is to have mandatory vaccination (against COVID-19). But first and foremost we do not have any law that has been legislated about that),’’ Año explained in an interview over ABS-CBN.

But Año stressed that the local chief executives (LCE) has the autonomous power based on Section 16 of the Local Government Code to issue executive orders and ordinances that makes COVID-19 inoculation mandatory.

In a separate interview, DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya noted that the LGUs may come up with local ordinances that would restrict the movement of their respective unvaccinated constituents against COVID-19.

“It’s within the mandate of the local chief executives to issue such kind of restrictions or policy based on Section 16 of the Local Government Code,’’ Malaya noted.

However, Malaya added “we suggest that the unvaccinated may still be allowed (normal movement) provided they present a negative RT-PCR test result.’’

Año insisted that the most logical way to avoid getting the COVID-19 infection is to get vaccinated most especially with the looming threat of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

On Nov. 27, League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) president and Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Mayor Luis “Chavit’’ Singson asked his unvaccinated constituents to get the COVID-19 jab or be holed up in their barangays and be restricted in traveling to other towns.

“Yung mga nagtatago kung ayaw (to get vaccinated), sabi namin hindi na sila makakapunta sa bayan pa o hindi na sila makalabas sa barangay, kung ayaw nilang magpabakuna. Lahat 'yon pang-counter namin sa ibang paniwala na ayaw pabakuna (For those in hiding if they refuse, we told them they cannot go to the town or be prohibited from leaving the barangay if they refuse to get inoculated. All of this is to counter those with different beliefs and do not want to be vaccinated),’’ Singson said.

He noted that Narvacan officials have also been conducting house-to-house visits in barangays to convince individuals to get vaccinated.

“Information ang importante riyan sa ating mga kababayan na mas magandang mabakunahan, kasi kung tamaan sila (COVID-19) grabe na. Pag nabakunahan sila tapos tinamaan sila, mas makakaligtas sila (Information is important in conveying to our constituents that it is better to get vaccinated because it will be worse if they get infected by COVID-19. If they are vaccinated and then they get infected it will be safer for them),’’ he added.

Singson said local governments from the different municipalities around the country are preparing for the influx of foreign tourists in December. (Chito A. Chavez)