MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement that prospective employers may legally prefer job applicants who have been immunized against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was supported by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday.
“The President is correct. Employers have the prerogative to select whoever they wish to employ on the basis of their own standards. There is no employer-employee relationship at that point,” Guevarra said in a message to reporters.
Guevarra, however, said the law currently bans making vaccination a requirement for continued employment.
“But if they (employers) have already hired and signed up someone, they cannot say, ‘Okay, you are already hired. but you must get vaccinated.’ that is the compulsion that is not allowed under RA (Republic Act) 11595,” he said.
The country’s vaccine stockpile has surpassed 113 million doses, with officials voicing optimism that the target of vaccinating at least 70% of the target population by the end of the year will be met.
So far, the Philippines has provided 64,195,936 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including 29,477,961 who are fully vaccinated.
