ILOILO City – Local human rights group Panay Alliance Karapatan decried the proposed mandatory coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination of beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
“Ang ini nga tikang tama kaathag nga nagalapas sa kitamatarung sang pumuluyo. Wala sang layi nga nagatumod nga ang pagbakuna mandatory,” the group said.
Citing reports from mayors around the country, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said “many” of the more than four million 4Ps beneficiaries had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
DILG proposed to “disincentivize” the unvaccinated.
“4Ps is a conditional transfer because before you can get your regular subsidy from the government, you have to meet certain conditions,” Malaya said in an interview over DZBB radio. “We will just add another condition which is vaccination.”
“If they’re not vaccinated, they won’t be able to receive 4Ps subsidy,” he said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which implements the program, however, maintained that vaccination remains voluntary and is not covered by the 4Ps law.
Health undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government must first review if the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for 4Ps beneficiaries will violate rights.
“We need to review thoroughly if this is going to violate any of the rights of our citizens or the members of 4Ps,” Vergeire told CNN Philippines.
“And also I think legally it should also be reviewed because there might be some existing policies that might be contradictory to these proposals,” she added./PN
