DOJ maintains vax requirement for work not compulsory

MANILA – Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday said the vaccination of workers against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as an additional requirement for employment is not compulsory.

In a message to reporters, Guevarra said the matter was taken up during the last meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

“I clarified this during the IATF meeting last Tuesday. I emphasized that the Covid-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 (Republic Act 11525) was clear on the non-compulsory nature of vaccination as an additional requirement for employment. Unless amended or modified by Congress, it is the existing and applicable law,” Guevarra said.

He added that during the meeting, all member agencies of the IATF were “duly advised” of the DOJ’s legal position on the matter.

Despite Secretary Silvestre Bello III’s absence from Tuesday’s meeting, Guevarra said the representative of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) duly noted the DOJ’s advice and said it will align its policy pronouncements accordingly, in compliance with the law.

Bello and other Philippine labor officials attended a meeting of labor ministers from other nations in the Middle East, hosted by the United Arab Emirates from October 25 to 27.

Republic Act 11525 provides that vaccine cards shall not be considered as an additional mandatory requirement for educational, employment, and other similar government transaction purposes and shall be free of charge and primarily digital but may be made available as printed cards.