By Raydes Barcia
Legazpi City—As the government strictly enforced the no vax, no ride policy, Albay lawmaker Joey Sarte Salceda (2nd District) vehemently opposed the Department of Transportation (DOTr) restrictions of 58 million unvaccinated Filipinos on public transport as it will cripple the country’s economy.
Salceda said that the Department Order (DO) No. 2022-001 issued on Tuesday, which covers all modes of public transportation – land, rail, sea, and air – to and from Metro Manila, was clearly “out of line with the most fundamental right to mobility.”
“Before restrictive policies, we have to guarantee that anyone who wants a vaccine can get one. As such, the means to get a vaccine have to be widely available and with a special preference towards the poor. Otherwise, it could deny access to basic public services among the poor who want to get vaccinated, but whose LGUs have not reached them yet,” Salceda said in a statement.
Salceda, chairman of House Ways and Means opposes the DOTr directive that would prevent unvaccinated individuals, with certain exemptions, from public transportation.
The House tax chair wants the government to address vaccination concerns, capacitate barangays” instead of tighter restrictions. With 52 million vaccinated, what about the 58 million unvaccinated?” the lawmaker stated.
“Section 12 of Republic Act No. 11525 clearly states that we cannot make vaccination certificates a requirement for availing of government services, and at the very least, the DO will violate that in the case of LRTs, the MRT, and the EDSA Carousel,” Salceda said.’
“The point of vaccination is to ensure that we can keep the economy open. With 58 million Filipinos still without vaccines, restricting their mobility is nowhere near allowing the economy to operate,” Salceda said.
“Even if we were to administer our entire vaccine inventory, you would only bump the number of vaccinated people up by 30 million people. That still leaves some 28 million unvaccinated. Let’s go for sensible solutions instead,” the lawmaker said.
The lawmaker also urged the government to “get the national vaccination database in order citing that even his first vaccination was not recorded in the online vaccination certificate.
“Even my own first dose was not recorded in the online vaccination certificate. It’s extremely easy to fake the LGU-issued vaccination certificates. And if any unvaccinated person is able to slip past the checks with a fake certificate, then the policy loses its point,” Salceda said.
To persuade the unvaccinated communities to undergo the inoculation, the lawmaker urged the Metro Manila Council to launch aggressive vaccination campaigns that provide transportation and other incentives to underprivileged communities.
“It would be extremely unfair if those who want to get vaccinated but have limited access to them are denied public transportation. It will affect their livelihoods. I also urge the IATF and LGUs to consider having large workplaces as vaccination sites, so that workers can take them at break hours or after work hours and need not take time off of work,” he said.
“Fridays are probably the best time to do them since workers can recover from vaccine side effects on the weekend. In my constituencies, we transport those who are willing to be vaccinated to the vaccination sites for free and provide them food. I encourage NCR LGUs to take the same approach,” Salceda said.
According to Salceda the best way to guarantee higher vaccination rates is still wide and convenient access for those who are willing. Everyone who wants a vaccine should be able to get one at little cost in time and personal resources.
Another factor that hinders the vaccination rollout of the government is the brand hesitancy.
“There is also plenty of brand hesitancy, more than vaccine hesitancy really. The DOH itself admitted that brand hesitancy was the driver of vaccine hesitancy. Studies by the World Bank and the ADB also seem to arrive at the same conclusion. Fortunately, the brands that people prefer now comprise a larger share of all our vaccines,” Salceda said.
Home testing and quarantine will also be more crucial during the Omicron surge, he said.
“This is a light variant, but it’s very infectious, so if we let it slip without community-led interventions, this could go out of hand. That’s why I am advocating for mass rapid testing, through antigen test kits, so that we can act quickly on positive cases,” Salceda said.
To strengthen vaccination and home care, Salceda said the BHWs will be able to administer rapid antigen tests and get results quickly, allowing public health authorities to isolate and treat cases at home.
“If we can keep the sick at home, everyone else should be able to get around and work. That is how to keep the economy open, not by tightening the noose around people who are not vaccinated not by their own fault,” he said. (Raydes Barcia)