THE Supreme Court has junked a petition that sought to compel the national government to fast-track the mass testing for COVID-19 in the country due to non-exhaustion of available remedies.
Also, the high court stressed that the petitioners led former Social Welfare secretary Judy Taguiwalo have failed to show that they are entitled to the issuance of writ of mandamus.
“.. petitioners have recourse to the government offices which respondents represent, i. e., DOH, DND, DILG, DOT, DBM, DOLE, Office of the Cabinet Secretariat, and ultimately, the Office of the President. There is no showing in their Petition that they have exhausted administrative remedies,” the high court said.
Aside from the conduct of mass testing, the petitioners, in their petition for mandamus, also urged the high court to order the government to release accurate and timely information about the country’s COVID-19 situation.
“The omission of proactive and efficient mass testing amid the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that a systemic and normalized violation of the right to health engenders the impairment of other human rights and liberties, such as the rights to travel, livelihood or work, education, and access to justice,” the petitioners said.
Aside from Taguiwalo, the petitioners included doctors, scientists, students overseas Filipino workers, to name a few.
“Without accurate and timely information on the extent of community transmission of COVID-19, the government lacks proper grounds for any policy pronouncement. These irregularities lessen the confidence of the public in the ability of the DOH (and government in general) to deal with the pandemic with transparency and integrity,” they continued.
Also in a recently-filed manifestation , the petitioners urged the high court to give cognizance to their petition and order the respondents to file their comment.
Named respondents were Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado, Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.
According to them, they filed their petition last July, but up now, the high court has yet to act on their petition.
“Clearly, the government through the DOH is not conducting enough COVID-19 tests nationwide,” they said.
“The government did not ramp up its mass testing efforts. There is no efficient system of contact tracing. Instead, the government reiterated that its strategy is to wait for the vaccine,” they added.
