The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is one with the country in its aspiration to finally recover from the pandemic. In this view, we continuously remind the government to always put respect and regard for human rights at the centre of its efforts.

Recently, there was a proposal from the government to increase the mobility of fully vaccinated individuals and restrict the movement of the unvaccinated between work and home only. The idea is directed towards boosting economic activity.

However, at this point, when vaccines are scarce, any form of segregation between the vaccinated and unvaccinated may lead to undue discrimination.

As of 12 August 2021, government reports that 17.9% of eligible Filipinos, or about 12 million, from the priority A1-A5 groups have been fully vaccinated, and 14 million others received their first dose. The country needs to vaccinate around 70 million Filipinos to achieve herd immunity. The total population of the Philippines is about 110 million.

But even if the said proposal is limited to the National Capital Region (NCR), the reality on the ground that Filipinos continue to struggle economically after losing jobs and livelihoods.

According to the Metro Manila Development Authority, as of 24 August 2021, 43.5% or 4.26 million qualified NCR residents have already been fully vaccinated; while 75% have gotten their first dose. This exposes a significant percentage of residents who will be restricted should the proposal push through.

In times of public emergency, human rights standards, as embodied in the Siracusa Principles adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council in 1984, allows for acceptable and reasonable restrictions of rights based on guidelines of necessity; legality; and proportionality of the proposed solution to the problem that needs to be addressed. Any mode of restriction of rights, such as the people’s freedom of movement, should be based on scientific evidence; should neither arbitrary nor discriminatory; and should especially be mindful of its possible disproportionate impacts to marginalised populations.

Even if we treat greater mobility as an incentive to get vaccinated, the challenge on vaccine supply in the country remains. In this case, the best way to protect the unvaccinated as well is to increase vaccine supply and improve the vaccination rate across the country.

We remind the government that pursuing the people’s right to health should also be in consonance with standards of availability, acceptability, accessibility, and quality of healthcare services—or the AAAQ Framework, a human-rights based approach envisioned to address inequalities, discriminatory processes, and barriers in realising the right to health.

CHR recognises the complexity of the present pandemic, further aggravated by the presence of a highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19. In search for a more sustainable solution, we remind the government to always consider respect for the rights of all and ensure that no one is left behind. ###