Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines: “If you don’t want to be vaccinated, I will stop you and I will inject your buttocks with the vaccine”

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday threatened to jail those who refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“Make no mistake, there is a crisis in this country, there is a national emergency. If they don’t want to be vaccinated, I will stop them and inject them with the vaccine in their buttocks ”, the president said in a speech, according to the local GMA portal.

“If you don’t agree to be vaccinated, leave the Philippines. Go to India or America “

“If you don’t agree to be vaccinated, leave the Philippines. Go to India if you want or somewhere else in America “He said, adding that he would order village chiefs to draw up a list of residents who refuse.

Human rights lawyer Edre Olalia has expressed concern over Duterte’s threat, saying the president cannot order the arrest of anyone who has not clearly committed a crime.

Duterte made these statements to be seen as “exasperated” by reports that people have refused to receive the vaccine in Manila as the country tries to speed up the process due to the risk of the Delta variant.

Duterte and his government have come under fire for a vaccination campaign marked by supply problems and public reluctance. After repeated delays, vaccination began in March.

The Philippines intend to vaccinate at least 58 million people this year to obtain collective immunity against the coronavirus. So far, 2.1 million people have received the full program, while a total of 8.4 million doses have been applied.

The president blamed the problems on wealthy Western countries for hoarding vaccines for their citizens, leaving poorer countries like the Philippines behind.

The Philippines is a major hotbed of COVID-19 in Asia, with more than 1.3 million confirmed infections and at least 23,749 deaths.

FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

On the other hand, in the same speech, Duterte attacked the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the investigation that the prosecution has pending into murders linked to the fight against drugs.

The Philippine president called the tribunal “shit” and insisted not to cooperate with the investigation he opened. “They are former colonizers, they did not atone for their sins against the countries they invaded, including the Philippines (…). Now they are trying to create a tribunal outside our country and hold us accountable to face them, ”he criticized, as reported by the DPA agency.

On February 8, 2018, the ICC began a preliminary review of the Philippine government’s crackdown on drugs. Last week, outgoing chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she was seeking a full investigation, citing “reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed” in this context.

Duterte said he would be prepared to face the charges “in front of a Filipino judge.” More than 7,000 people have lost their lives in drug operations in the country over the past five years.

(with information from EP and AP)

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