CDCPh calls MMDA lockdown of unvaxxed Filipinos unconstitutional, oppressive
07 January 2022
The Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines (CDC Ph) expressed its vehement opposition against the recent Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Resolution No. 22-01 imposing enhanced restrictions on unvaccinated individuals.
CDC Ph, which advocates for evidence-based medicine and human rights, called the resolution, the first issued by MMDA this year, unconstitutional and particularly oppressive to the most vulnerable sectors of Philippine society.
Freedom to make informed decisions
“This resolution flat out ignores the constitutionally-protected right of every Filipino to make independent, informed decisions that massively impacts their health and the well-being of their loved ones,” said Dr. Homer Lim, President of CDC Ph.
Lim said that there are no medical studies on adverse long-term side effects of the vaccines currently being administered throughout the country and as such, vaccinations ought to be voluntary and not government-mandated.
“Does the government have the authority to coerce its citizens to be injected with an experimental drug, without knowing the degree and severity of its long term adverse effects,” Lim asked.
And then, Lim added, “Will the government shoulder the medical costs and lost income for individuals who suffer long-term adverse effects from vaccines? If not, then the government must respect each individual’s right to self determination – the choice of whether or not to receive these experimental vaccines.”
Financial burden on the poor
Meanwhile, Mari Kaimo, CDC Ph Vice-President, also criticized the MMDA resolution for imposing an additional financial burden on the poor, at a time when the incidence of poverty is at the highest rate in recent history.
“Asking the unvaccinated to shoulder the costs of testing every two weeks is an oppressive financial burden on individuals and families that are at their financial breaking point because of the economic impact of this pandemic,” Kaimo said.
Kaimo is referring to the provision in the MMDA resolution that requires the unvaccinated, “to undergo a Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT PCR) test every 2 weeks at their personal expense and present a COVID-19 negative result prior to being admitted for work onsite.”
“The costs of RT-PCR tests run in the thousands of pesos, and given the salary scales in the Philippines, a vast majority of unvaccinated workers cannot afford to shoulder additional expenses of this magnitude,” Kaimo said.
“In effect, the IATF is using mandatory required testing as a financial cudgel to coerce unvaccinated workers to either take vaccines or face the prospect of financial ruin,” he added.
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Many governments around the world have become Constitutional violators themselves as most country Constitutions put the individuals' freedom as paramount to government over-reach. In the Philippine Constitution, the Bill of Rights were explicitly stated to guarantee the individuals' rights and freedom. All other laws -- from Congress via Republic Acts (RA), from the President via Executive Orders (EOs), from Departments via Administrative Orders or Department Orders, from local government units via local legislations -- are inferior to the Constitution. Any law/s they make that violate the Constitution are automatically void, unconstitutional, although it will take the Supreme Court to decide and make this ruling.
Yesterday, January 7, new all-time-high Covid cases:
World, 2.72 M,
US 849k,
Argentina 110.5k,
Australia 77.7k,
Turkey 63.2k,
Canada 44.3k,
Portugal 38.7k,
Netherlands 34.9k,
Belgium 27.3k,
Ireland 21.9k.
Not all-time high but still high cases, Jan. 7:
UK 178.2k,
India, 142.0k,
Spain 115.9k,
Italy 108.3k,
Germany 59.4k,
Brazil 54.9k,
Greece 29.3k,
Colombia 26.2k,
Mexico 25.8k,
Philippines 21.8k.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/.
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The plan to inoculate the 12-17 yo has been implemented already. Tens of thousands of teenagers been vaxxed already. The new plan of government is to inoculate the 5-11 yo too. So the government bawal-bawal prohibitions to travel domestically for 12 yo and above unless vaxxed or with negative PCR test will be extend. Previously, parents and older siblings won't travel (and spend money to places that need visitors) unless their younger siblings 12-17 yo are vaxxed or have nose rape with PCR test. With this development targetting 5-11 yo, soon even 5-11 yo can not travel unless vaxxed or nose-raped lesser mobility by parents and older siblings. Lesser mobility by parents and older siblings, less economic and business activities in the country especially in the provinces.
Still wrong to equate "more vax = more protection", "unvaxxed = unprotected" from infections and sickness. The opposite can happen, see Mandaluyong City the other day. The City keeps and publishes its daily cases, almost everyday the vaxxed among the patients outnumber the unvaxxed.
Then there is report of rising food insecurity in the PH,
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/12/27/food-insecure-pinoys-up-to-46-1-million-un-report/
One big problem of the UN and other multilaterals is their inconsistency. The cause of such food insecurity is government strict indefinite lockdowns and checkpoints that affected planting, harvesting, transpo and storage of food, and more joblessness unless vax vax vax. And for these multilaterals, the solution is more govt, more "Food assistance and other social transfers", funded by what else, more borrowings today and more taxes tomorrow.
People want to work unhampered, buy spare parts for their tractors harvesters waterpumps trucks pumpboats etc, mobility of mechanics operators drivers etc, transpo of grains veggies fruits fishery meat products etc. across regions and islands. There are still checkpoints and inspections of vax or nose rape certificates that contribute to slower mobility.
Some articles I read recently:
(1) COVID-19: stigmatising the unvaccinated is not justified
Günter Kampf
November 20, 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02243-1
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02243-1/fulltext
There is increasing evidence that vaccinated individuals continue to have a relevant role in transmission. In Massachusetts, USA, a total of 469 new COVID-19 cases were detected during various events in July, 2021, and 346 (74%) of these cases were in people who were fully or partly vaccinated, 274 (79%) of whom were symptomatic. Cycle threshold values were similarly low between people who were fully vaccinated (median 22·8) and people who were unvaccinated, not fully vaccinated, or whose vaccination status was unknown (median 21·5), indicating a high viral load even among people who were fully vaccinated.2 In the USA, a total of 10 262 COVID-19 cases were reported in vaccinated people by April 30, 2021, of whom 2725 (26·6%) were asymptomatic, 995 (9·7%) were hospitalised, and 160 (1·6%) died.3 In Germany, 55·4% of symptomatic COVID-19 cases in patients aged 60 years or older were in fully vaccinated individuals,4 and this proportion is increasing each week. In Münster, Germany, new cases of COVID-19 occurred in at least 85 (22%) of 380 people who were fully vaccinated or who had recovered from COVID-19 and who attended a nightclub.5 People who are vaccinated have a lower risk of severe disease but are still a relevant part of the pandemic. It is therefore wrong and dangerous to speak of a pandemic of the unvaccinated.
(2) Threats vs the unvaxxed: The failure to see realities
Kurt Dela Peña / 04:02 PM January 07, 2022
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1537464/threats-vs-the-unvaxxed-the-failure-to-see-realities
“Those who did not get vaccinated, if you get sick, the risk of dying is there. So it’s up to you. If you ask me for help, I will not help you because you didn’t get vaccinated,” he said on Jan. 4.
“If you were vaccinated. We shouldn’t be worrying about it. If you die, then, you’re on your own,” he said, pointing to rising hospital admissions and contaminations...
The President’s “no help, even if you die” quip was the latest in the string of threats he made against people who have not been vaccinated yet. A review of his previous statements showed a consistent strategy to threaten people:
June 22, 2021
“These sh*t people who do not want to be vaccinated, and they are really carriers and they, you know, travel from one place to another, carrying the virus, and then contaminating other people,” he said.
“You who do not want to get vaccinated, I will have you vaccinated with Ivermectin. Don’t get me wrong. There is a crisis. If you don’t want to get vaccinated, I will have you arrested.”
July 28, 2021
“Those who do not want to get vaccinated, I am telling you, do not go out of your houses. If you go out, I will tell the police to escort you back. You will be escorted back to your house because you are a walking spreader,” he said.
Oct. 12, 2021
“The problem is the individuals who don’t want to get vaccinated. Look for them in your villages, let’s go there while they’re sleeping and vaccinate them so we can get it done,” Duterte said.
“If they don’t want to, let’s go inside and vaccinate them when night falls. I’ll do it, I’ll lead the journey,” he said while missing the fact that there’s no law mandating vaccination.
(3) CHR Speaks against Duterte's pronouncement to restrict unvaxxed
January 7, 2022
https://rumble.com/vs4fd3-chr-speaks-against-dutertes-pronouncement-to-restrict-unvaxxed.html
Rumble — CHR Comm Gwen Pimentel-Gana speaks against Duterte's pronouncement to restrict and restrain unvaxxed at home on an interview with Teleradyo's Alvin Elchico and Doris Bigornia.
(4) Discriminating against the unvaccinated is illegal and wrong
Being Right. By Jemy Gatdula
January 6, 2022 | 9:47 pm
https://www.bworldonline.com/discriminating-against-the-unvaccinated-is-illegal-and-wrong/
Remember when the medical experts said two years ago that it would only take “two weeks to flatten the curve”? And when that didn’t happen, they told us that things will be back to normal when the vaccines arrive? Well, now with nearly 95% of the National Capital Region’s target population vaccinated (MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos declared it at 100%; see GMA News, Dec. 9, 2021), we’re still nowhere back to normal.
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See also:
Covid 62, CDC Ph longer draft for the full-page ad, December 15, 2021
Covid 63, No Tricks Zone on vaccine and medical tyranny, December 25, 2021
Covid 64, All-time high new Covid cases in high-vax countries, December 30, 2021.
