Legal manager needed at pandemic task force after series of botched policies, senator says
THE INTER-AGENCY task force managing the coronavirus response needs to hire a legal manager to evaluate policies before these are carried out following a series of botched rules that caused confusion among the public and implementing authorities, a senator said.
Senator Francis N. Tolentino said in a statement on Thursday that a legal division within the ad hoc group “will be in charge of filtering, scrutinizing, consolidating, polishing, and harmonizing all its upcoming policies prior to its actual implementation.”
The legal team will serve as the government’s “final clearing house” before implementing any health emergency policy, especially those that affect individual liberties guaranteed under the Constitution.
The senator cited the “no vaccination, no ride” policy in all public transport and mandatory pediatric vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Last month, the Department of Transportation had to clarify that workers are exempted from the “no vaccination, no ride” policy two days after it was implemented.
The Department of Health also had to modify its pediatric vaccination circular, removing a provision allowing children to get vaccinated without parental consent after two parents filed complaints at a regional trial court questioning its legality. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
