DILG lauds SC decision rejecting group’s bid for free mass COVID-19 testing

September 17, 2020

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday lauded the Supreme Court ruling rejecting the plea of a group seeking to compel them and other government agencies to conduct free COVID-19 mass testing.

Interior Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the High Court’s 13-1-1 vote denying the petition for mandamus was a “breath of fresh air” that should put an end to what was obviously a “propaganda stunt.”

“We welcome the Supreme Court decision because it reinforced the government’s position that there is no need to conduct mass testing for the coronavirus simply because there is already a comprehensive COVID-19 testing program in place,” Malaya said.

He said the petition for mass testing makes “no sense” because the existing IATF health protocols provide free testing for health workers, close contacts of COVID patients, and those with symptoms upon assessment by health professionals, hence, only those that need to be being tested.

He said those who are most at risk for COVID-19 are being prioritized for the expanded testing as prescribed by DOH Department Memorandum 2020-0151 and reiterated by Department Circular No. 2020-0179.

Patients or healthcare workers who are not considered vulnerable but with mild symptoms and relevant history of travel or exposure, and those with no symptoms but have relevant history of travel or exposure are also being tested under the expanded testing scheme.

“If you don’t fall under these two qualifications but want to be tested, you need to be assessed by a licensed health professional who shall determine whether you get tested,” the spokesperson said.

“We thank the Supreme Court for dismissing this obvious propaganda stunt because it is not only impractical, it has no logic whatsoever. COVID testing is a medical procedure and therefore it must be governed by science and not by hash tags,” Malaya added.

Malaya said the Philippines have the highest testing capacity in the entire Southeast Asian region, with 3,012,600 tested individuals in more than 100 laboratories across the country.

“Let us now focus our energy on a more daunting task at hand:  living with the virus under the new normal as we all await the much-needed vaccine or cure. The economy should slowly reopen. Life goes on,” he stressed.

The High Tribunal denied the petition for the issuance of a writ of mandamus filed by the Citizens Urgent Response to End COVID-19 (CURE COVID-19) led by its spokesperson, former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, as the petitioners failed to show they are entitled to it.

A petition for mandamus seeks to order a tribunal, corporation, board, officer, or person to perform an unlawfully neglected duty.

“The job of the Court is to say what the law is, not dictate how another branch of government should do its job,” the SC said in its resolution.

“Without a demonstration that an official in the executive branch failed to perform a mandatory, nondiscretionary duty, courts have no authority to issue a writ of mandamus, no matter how dire the emergency,” it also said.

Malaya agreed with the Supreme Court that the petitioners failed to exhaust all remedies as they could have gone to the DILG and other government agencies like the Department of Health, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), or even the Office of the President before filing the petition. Ella Dionisio/DMS