President Rodrigo Duterte said employers have the right to refuse to accept unvaccinated individuals applying for a job.

"The only problem is when you want to seek employment and then one of the reasons that would be asked of you by the prospective employer would be if you are vaccinated. Now, if you say no, for whatever reason, and what is important for them is if you are vaccinated and if you are not you will not be accepted in the job. I think that is legal," Duterte said during his taped Talk To The People on Tuesday night.

"You have the right to refuse, to accept as an employee of somebody who is not vaccinated and would go and join the rest of the employees in the factory or a place or whatever workplace that you have as your business and then this guy would start to contaminate everybody," he said.

As he expressed support to the employers who will not accept unvaccinated applicants, Duterte explained these moves will help them protect not just their business but also existing employees.

"It could mean a loss of stafage or whatever if everyone gets sick. In this case, you are only protecting your property, your investments, your business," he said.

"I think it’s legal for employers not to accept people who are not vaccinated. They are right. I agree with them. And as a lawyer, I will tell them that I think you did a good job. You are just protecting business and other people. So what could be the legal argument against it?, he added.

As part of the ongoing efforts to improve the vaccination program in the country, Duterte announced the government's plan to conduct a three-day national vaccination drive from November 20 to December 1.

"We are planning to conduct a three-day national vaccination drive from November 29 to December 1 coinciding with our November 30 commemoration of Bonifacio Day. With this, we want to convey the message that every Filipino who will get vaccinated are heroes," he said.

"I have instructed the National Task Force and the DILG to further push these numbers upward and to do everything necessary to reach our targets before the end of the year. Almost 30 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated and more than 35 (million) have at least one dose," he added. Robina Asido/DMS