The Supreme Court (SC) announced on Thursday (July 13) that it has dismissed the petitions that assailed the constitutionality of the regulations issued by the governments concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Court held that petitions were dismissible for violating the doctrine of hierarchy of courts as the resolution of the issues raised therein required the determination and adjudication of extremely technical and scientific facts that necessitates the conduct of a full-blown proceeding before a court of first instance,” the SC Public Information Office (SCPIO) said in a statement.
The SCPIO said the tribunal made the ruling during its full court session held Tuesday (July 12).
It noted that the SC resolved the three petitions filed by various groups last year, particularly, on Feb. 17, Feb. 23, and May 12.
The petitioners assailed the validity of the issuances of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Philippines (IATF), government agencies, and the local government of Makati City concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SCPIO noted that among the issuances that were assailed included IATF Resolution No. 148-B which “requires all public and private establishments to require its eligible employees who are tasked to do on-site work to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or else subject themselves to RT-PCR ( reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) testing every two weeks at their own expense, among others.”
“The petitioners collectively contended that the foregoing issuances trampled on their right to life and liberty without due process of law, constituted an impairment of their right to travel, as well as an infringement of the equal protection clause for applying only to those without access to private vehicles, and is discriminatory against the unvaccinated,” the SCPIO cited.
“They averred that the impugned measures embody a mandatory vaccination policy considering that the use of public transportation is an essential part of Filipino life,” it added.
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