THE DEPARTMENT of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is detached from reality and unaware of the real plight of the poor. Its push for a “no vax, no subsidy” policy for 4.4 million beneficiaries of 4Ps or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is callous to say the least.
It’s crazy, really. And has no legal basis at all. Section 11 of the 4Ps Act (Republic Act 11310) states the conditions for entitlement of the subsidy, and coercive or mandatory vaccination is not one of them. The conditions are: (a) Pregnant women must avail of pre-natal services, give birth in a health facility attended by a skilled health professional, and receive post-partum care and post-natal care for her newborn; (b) Children zero to five years old must receive regular preventive health and nutrition services including check-ups and vaccinations; (c) Children one to 14 years old must avail of deworming pills at least twice a year; (d) Children three to four years old must attend daycare or pre-school classes at least 85% of them time; (e) Children five to 18 years old must attend elementary or secondary classes at least 85% of their time; and (f) At least one responsible person must attend family development sessions conducted by the DSWD, at least once a month.
DILG’s proposal is thus absolutely unacceptable, inhuman and heartless. The poverty incidence is continuously rising. There are 4.25 million Filipinos unemployed and 4.8 million families are hungry. The National Economic Development Authority had earlier said that about 17 million Filipinos are expected to remain poor next year and the government may fail to reach its 14-percent poverty rate target set by the Duterte administration due to the pandemic. DILG’s callous policy will make things even worse for 4Ps beneficiaries.
It is contrary to the 4Ps law to withhold benefits or expel members who are not vaccinated. The DILG cannot just do that. While the exercise of police power in promoting public health and safety can be invoked, such must be weighed carefully because many Filipinos remain unvaccinated not out of their own choice but because of the lack of supply of vaccines.
It should not assume that 4Ps beneficiaries are not vaccinated because they refused vaccines. They are not vaccinated because they have limited access to vaccines especially in the countryside, or the roll out remains slow, or the vaccines available are not what the people prefer.
Why not offer incentives to get people vaccinated rather than punish them? Isn’t this more sensible?
