The “law of necessity”

In a late-night public address on Wednesday, Mr. Duterte argued that the coronavirus emergency trumped laws guaranteeing freedom of movement, calling his order “the law of necessity.”

“If they don’t want to be vaccinated, they should not be allowed to go out of their homes,” Mr. Duterte said. “They may say there is no law, but should I wait for a law knowing that many will die?”

Duterte says vaccine refusers in the Philippines should be detained at home.

It was not clear whether President Rodrigo Duterte intended to try to enforce such a rule, which legal experts said would be unconstitutional.