QC barangay chiefs told to explain 'no vaccination card, no quarantine pass' policy

MANILA, Philippines — Two barangay executives in Quezon City have been directed to explain reports that they required vaccination cards from their constituents asking for quarantine passes.

Quarantine passes, which are issued by local government units, allow people to leave home for essential trips like buying food and medicine. The passes are limited to one person per household.

The order comes after videos showing barangay officials refusing to give quarantine passes to residents who could not present completed vaccination cards went viral on social media.

In a statement, the Anti-Red Tape Authority said it sent Barangay Quirino 2B Chair Ritchie Poblacion and Barangay Central Chair Rosa Magpayo copies of the show-cause orders to their official email addresses and their Facebook accounts.

The two were given seven days to explain why no administrative or criminal case should be filed against them over their alleged directive to require vaccination cards.

The Quezon City government has clarified that that is not the policy in the city.

This has been raised to the concerned department & barangay. Our city guidelines state that the barangay shall issue the quarantine pass preferably to a person that is fully-vaccinated.

It is not mandatory to be fully-vaccinated to get one.

Please see: https://t.co/2Azlnj7U0d

— Quezon City Government (@QCGov) August 6, 2021

The ARTA, in its show-cause orders, said that the two village officials' alleged directive runs contrary to a memorandum issued by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte prohibiting such policy.

"The barangay shall issue the pass to not more than one (1) person per household, preferably to a person that is fully vaccinated and who otherwise does not have a company ID or other APOR ID," the city's ECQ guidelines issued August 6 read. 

Earlier, the city public information office told reporters that the LGU only prefers that a fully vaccinated individual be the one to receive the quarantine pass in a household, "but if there's no vaccinated member, then it can be given to the most qualified member."

The ARTA also pointed to the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018, which holds liable government officials and employees refusing to accept application or requests with complete requirements being submitted by an applicant or requesting party without due cause. 

ARTA said Poblacion and Magpayo may face charges if they fail to provide their answers within the prescribed period.

Metro Manila went into ECQ starting Friday, August 6, in an attempt to curb the spread of the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus.

To date, health authorities have recorded 1.64 million coronavirus infections in the country, 76,063 of whom are still classified as active cases. 

--

Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Philstar.com. This article was produced following editorial guidelines.