Filipinos can't get arrested for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Tuesday, as he explained an earlier threat from President Rodrigo Duterte.
The President "merely used strong words to drive home the need for us to get vaccinated and reach herd immunity as soon as possible," Guevarra told reporters.
During his weekly taped address to the nation aired close to midnight on Monday, the President urged the public to get jabbed against COVID-19.
"Kung ayaw mo magpabakuna, ipaaresto kita at ang bakuna, itusok ko sa puwet mo. Put*ng ina, bw*sit kayo," he said. "Magpabakuna kayo or ipakulong ko kayo sa selda."
The President, who is a lawyer, "knows that not getting vaccinated is a legal choice," Guevarra said. "There is no law as yet that compels vaccination against COVID-19, much less criminalizes it, as presently available vaccimnes are still in trial phases."
As of June 20, Philippine authorities had fully vaccinated 2.1 million people, compared to the target of immunizing at least 50 million this year or roughly half the population.