Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima on Friday, January 14 expressed alarm over the directive of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) ordering barangays to submit an inventory of unvaccinated persons in their localities. De Lima, former chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), said such directive might embolden authorities to abuse the information in their hands.
“I have serious concerns on DILG’s directive for barangays to make a list of the ‘unvaxxed’, as it has high potential for privacy rights and other human rights violations, especially given how this administration weaponized so-called ‘drug lists’ as ‘Tokhang lists,’” she said in a statement posted on Twitter.
De Lima said she echoes the constant call of CHR to always infuse respect for human rights in all pandemic-related policy decisions.
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya reportedly said DILG Secretary Eduardo Año has already issued a Memorandum Circular ordering barangays to identify and submit a list of residents still unvaccinated against COVID-19.
Such move is said to be in line with President Duterte’s order to restrict the movement of unvaccinated individuals amid the surge of COVID-19 infections in the country.
It may be recalled that, in his televised address to the nation, Duterte ordered barangay captains to identify unvaccinated people in their communities and restrain them from stepping out of their residence.
Amid the continued surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, De Lima said the last thing people need is for Duterte to resort to threatening people with arrest as if they are incapable of understanding social responsibility and could only respond to threats of harm and violence.
De Lima further said: “This is the same President who thought Filipinos could be responsible enough to handle the rapid rollback of safety measures and restrictions over the Christmas and New Year holidays.”
`Moreover, De Lima stressed that now is not the time to pit the vaccinated against the unvaccinated, and much less for the President to resort to threats or violence to hide his failures in mass testing, contact tracing, and address issues on vaccine hesitancy.
“This is not a ‘war’ against an enemy that can be defeated by violence. This is a fight for survival that can only be won by unity,” she added.
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