The Quezon City regional trial court (RTC) is expected to resolve next week the petition which pleaded to stop the vaccination of five to 11 years old children against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) without the consent of their parents.
Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) Chief Persida V. Rueda Acosta, whose office represented the two parents who filed the petition, said on Wednesday, Feb. 9. that after the online hearings last Feb. 8, RTC Judge Primo G. Sio Jr. ordered the government to file its answer, including its comment on the plea for a temporary restraining order (TRO).
Named respondents in the petition filed by parents Dominic S. Almelor and Girlie E. Samonte were Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco T. Duque III, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire and the DOH Public Health Services Team.
Acosta said that after the filing of the comment, the TRO petition is submitted for resolution,” Acosta said.
The vaccination of five to 11 years old children should have been rolled out last Feb. 4. It was postponed to Feb. 7 due to the late arrival of the vaccines.
Health Secretary Duque clarified last Feb. 7 that parental consent cannot be replaced when it comes to vaccinating children ages five to 11.
DOH Memorandum No. 2022-0041 dated Jan. 24, 2022 states:
“In case the parent/guardian refuses to give consent to the vaccination despite the desire and willingness of the minor child to have himself/herself vaccinated, or there are no persons that may legally exercise parental authority over the child, the State may act as parens patrias (parent of the country) and give the necessary consent. Therefore, the proper officer representing the State as parens patrias may sign the consent form. In this regard, the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) or its city/municipal counterparts shall serve as the proper office who shall represent the State.”
“Nagkaroon lang ng di pagkaka-intindihan. Inatasan ko na ang DOH last week na tanggalin yan rider provision na yan (There was just a misunderstanding. I have tasked the DOH last week to remove that rider provision),” Duque said.
Legal quarters said the petition may become moot and academic since the DOH had clarified that parental consent is a must in the vaccination of five to 11 years old children.
In challenging the DOH memorandum, petitioners Almelor, a former television network reporter, and Samonte, among other allegations, told the RTC:
“There is a clear and present danger that children, who cannot make wise and mature decisions for themselves, will be forced into COVID-19 vaccination against their parents’/guardians’ will. The life and safety of the children are superior over the interest of the Respondents to experimentally inoculate children under the guise of solving the pandemic.
“While Petitioners recognize the power and responsibility of the Government to control the pandemic and adopt measures to curtail its further spread, surrounding circumstances still point to its careful administration so as not to grossly disregard human lives, especially of innocent and unsuspecting children.”