Lift no-vax, no-work policy — PAO

The Public Attorney's Office has asked the Department of the Interior and Local Government, as well as the Department of Labor, to lift the no-vaccination, no-work policy of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19.

In pushing the move, the PAO cited various verbal and written requests from workers that have reached it.

PAO chief Persida Acosta, who previously pushed the right of the people to choose not to be vaccinated against any virus, said the no-vax, no-work policy has been an added burden to workers.

She also called for a pause on the "mandatory and experimental" vaccination of children by the Department of Health and local government units.

Acosta said they have received requests for assistance from workers being discriminated against at their workplace for not being vaxxed.

Some had been barred entry while others were required to submit negative RT-PCR tests weekly, a costly requirement, Acosta noted.

She stressed that barring workers from their workplace due to their being unvaxxed may amount to constructive dismissal.

"Forcing somebody to be vaccinated, directly or indirectly, is wilful misconduct. In this connection, it is well to understand that Republic Act 11525 (Covid-19 vaccination Program Act of 2021) itself acknowledges that the Covid-19 vaccines are still experimental," Acosta said.

She added that Covid vaccines have only emergency use authorizations, which means they are still unregistered drugs and vaccines only being used on account of a public health emergency.

"The EUA is not a certificate of product registration or marketing authorization. The evaluation process of the product may be facilitated on the use and monitoring following authorization shall be imposed."