Philippine President Duterte Orders Officials To Arrest Residents Who Reluctant To Get Vaccinated With COVID-19 And Desperate To Leave Their Homes

Illustration of President Duterte campaigning for a COVID-19 vaccine. (Wikimedia Commons/Alfred Frias/Presidential Photo)

JAKARTA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday people who have not taken the COVID-19 vaccine will be arrested if they do not comply with stay-at-home orders, when infections hit a three-month high.

President Duterte in a televised address to the country said he called on community leaders to search for people who were not vaccinated and ensure they were confined to their homes.

"If he refuses, if he goes out of the house and travels around society, he can be arrested. If he refuses, the captain is now authorized to arrest recalcitrant people," said President Duterte, citing Reuters on January 6.

Daily coronavirus infections in the Philippines hit their highest level since Sept. 26 with 17,220 cases as of Thursday, the health ministry said, including those caused by the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The tally, which more than tripled recorded on Tuesday brought the total cases to more than 2.88 million, with deaths to more than 51,700, the second-highest COVID-19 infection and toll in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia.

"I am responsible for the safety and well-being of every Filipino," Duterte said, challenging those who disapprove of his directives to file cases against him.

By the end of last year, 49.8 million people had been fully vaccinated, or 45 percent of the country's 110 million population. Under existing rules, unvaccinated people in the capital Manila area can only leave their homes for essential travel.

To note, President Duterte is known for his war rhetoric. Last year, he threatened people who refused injections with prison or injections of Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug widely used to treat animals.

But his latest statement underscores his government's growing concern over the rising number of COVID-19 cases that health experts have warned could overwhelm the country's health system again.

So far, the Philippines has detected 43 domestic and imported cases of Omicron, prompting the government to tighten restrictions this week.