DILG laughs off CPP front’s ‘witch hunt’ claim

THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday, January 14, 2022, slammed leftist lawmaker France Castro of the Makabayan Bloc for calling the DILG’s directive urging all barangays in the country to prepare an inventory of unvaccinated individuals as a “witch-hunt.”

“To call the President’s directive as well as the ordinances passed by the LGUs as a witch-hunt is completely irresponsible and uncalled for,” said DILG undersecretary and spokesperson, Jonathan Malaya.

“We are facing an unprecedented global health emergency and we need to protect the unvaccinated.

“Again, the purpose of the inventory is to protect the unvaccinated from getting sick and dying as well as to protect our health care system from being overwhelmed. How is that a witch hunt,” he asked further.

“Moreover, it is neither unconstitutional nor violative of a person’s right to privacy because the data of unvaccinated persons is being collected for a legitimate purpose and that is to address the latest wave of COVID-19 infection under Alert Level 3,” he added.

“Kailangan pong timbangin ang karapatan ng isang tao at ang kanyang pananagutan o responsibilidad sa lipunan. Rep. Castro should not be so swift in shooting down the efforts of the national and local governments and calling them unconstitutional or unlawful without knowing the rationale behind the policy,” Malaya stressed.

Malaya also assured the Commission on Human Rights that the inventory will not be published or released to the public and will only serve as a reference by the barangays in implementing the ordinances passed by LGUs.

Malaya said that RA 11332 is related to RA No. 10173 which allows the processing of personal information for a legitimate purpose.

Section 7 of RA 11332 provides that the President shall declare a State of Public Health Emergency in the event of an epidemic of national and/or international concern which threatens national security in order to mobilize governmental and non-governmental agencies to respond to the threat.

Malaya said that the ongoing status of state of calamity in the country is related to Section 12 (e) of Data Privacy Act that provides one of the conditions when it is permitted to process personal information, which is when it is “necessary in order to respond to national emergency, to comply with the requirements of public order and safety, or to fulfill functions of public authority which necessarily includes the processing of personal data for the fulfillment of its mandate”.

“Kaya malinaw po na walang paglabag sa batas o sa privacy ng mamamayan sa paghimok sa mga punong barangay na gumawa ng imbentaryo ng mga ‘di pa bakunado kontra COVID-19. The government’s intent is not to harm them but protect them and nudge them towards vaccination and to promote general welfare and public health,” he said.

Malaya said that the roster of the unvaccinated population can also help local government units (LGUs) identify and convince those unvaccinated to get vaccinated at the earliest possible time.

“We stand by our call to our barangay chiefs. We need to identify the unvaccinated to protect everybody. The goal of the DILG is to protect people’s right to health at sa paglobo ng mga kaso ngayon, iyon ang pinakamahalaga,” he said.