CHIEF Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to arrest those who refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19 has constitutional basis.

Panelo cited Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, which states that the prime duty of the government is to serve and protect the people; Article II, Section 5, which states that the maintenance of peace and order and the protection of life, among others, are essential to democracy; and Section 15, which directs the State to protect and promote the right to health of people.

Panelo said there is no need for a new law to enforce the order of the President.

He also cited the Supreme Court ruling on Imbong v. Ochoa where the high court declared that the provisions of the Constitution relating to the promotion of health are“self-executory” and do not require an enabling law.

“Constitutional provisions on public health, by themselves, are operative and need no subsequent legislation for their enforcement,” Panelo said in a statement.

He said because the country is in a state of national emergency “drastic times demand for drastic measures.”

“Individual choice or liberties are to be respected but the security of the nation is paramount hence its survival must be fiercely protected,” he added.

President Duterte on Monday threatened to order the arrest of Filipinos who refuse to be vaccinated.

Panelo’s statement, however, contradicts that of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra who said there is no law that penalizes non-vaccination and that of Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. who said an enabling law or an ordinance is needed to implement the President’s order.

In the same statement, Panelo blamed members of the opposition for the high vaccine hesitancy in the country, saying they are instilling fear among Filipinos.

“It is not the government [that] instills fear among our citizens. It is the political opposition and some progressive groups that have caused agitation and doubt in the minds of our people as to the benefits of being inoculated against the fatal pathogen,”he said.