Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 18) — The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to dismiss the petition of two parents seeking to halt COVID-19 vaccination of children aged 5 to 11.
In a 21-page comment/opposition, Solicitor General Jose Calida presented the arguments against the petition filed by Dominic Almelor and Girlie Samonte — who both have children within the age group – urgently seeking a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction.
Calida said the petitioners “are armed with nothing but bare allegations and speculations that do not carry any weight of credibility.”
The parents are specifically opposing the earlier policy allowing the state to give parental consent to a child’s inoculation even if their parent refuses.
Such provision, however, “has been completely rescinded” by the Department of Health with the issuance of another department memorandum on Feb. 4, the OSG pointed out.
“Thus, petitioners’ claim no longer has any leg to stand on,” the document read.
However, even prior to the rescission of the item, “it could not have been said that petitioners’ parental authority was ever threatened,” since nothing in their petition shows that their respective children have expressed desire to be vaccinated despite their parents’ refusal.
Calida argued that “whatever fears petitioners had were specious and imaginative at best,” and that they “have no standing to invoke the rights of persons who did not join them in their petition.”
“Petitioners have not given this Honorable Court any basis to conclude that they may bring this suit in representation of the entirety of the DOH’s vaccine recipients,” he said.
“Mere allegations of altruism or concern for the children of other parents is not enough to clothe petitioners with sufficient interest to pose a challenge to a presumed valid issuance, much less claim personal damage from it,” Calida also said.
The parents also raised concerns over the safety of the Pfizer vaccine to be used on the minors due to the Dengvaxia controversy, but they are not at risk of suffering any grave and irreparable injury because children’s vaccination is “purely voluntary and dependent on their consent,” thus they may opt to have their children not immunized, Calida noted.
Moreover, the non-participation of minors protects them from “the adverse effects of vaccination,” thus a TRO or a Writ of Preliminary Injunction is not a necessity, he added.
During a Feb. 8 hearing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire explained that vaccination of the 5-11 year olds was one of the most effective ways to protect them from COVID-19 and its complications.
Health experts, including those from the World Health Organization and local medical groups like the Philippine Medical Association and the Philippine Pediatric Society, have expressed their support for the program.
Preventing willing parents and children from getting their coronavirus shot would only keep the latter vulnerable to severe sickness, the OSG said.
“The petitioners and this Honorable Court must respect the choice of parents who want to have their children vaccinated,” it added.
