DOLE To Release Advisory Against ‘No Vaccine, No Work’ Policy in the Philippines

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced on Saturday, March 6, that they will release an advisory against the “no vaccine, no work” policy in the Philippines. 

DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III stated, “We will issue an advisory, not an order on Monday. We will advise everyone that nobody can be forced to undergo vaccination without his or her consent and any policy that is requiring vaccination for work will be declared illegal.”

Bello noted that the advisory is to make employers aware of such rules. 

Bello urged employees to report the companies or employers who are requiring staff to acquire the COVID-19 vaccine before they are allowed to enter the workplace. 

He continued, “They can report it to our DOLE offices; we have city, municipal, provincial and regional offices and they can also call our hotlines: 1439 and 1438.”

At present, DOLE has yet to receive any complaints from employees regarding the issue. 

Bello added, “We have not received any complaint yet. In fairness, the president of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines had said they will not implement such [policy] because they know that it has no legal basis and you cannot force the workers to get vaccinated. We don’t have the vaccines yet.”

However, Bello ended his statement by urging the Filipino public to get vaccinated whenever possible. 

He expressed, “I’m asking our fellow Filipinos to get vaccinated once the vaccines are available. The best way for us to ensure our return to normalcy.”