Don’t ascribe bad intentions on LGUs’ COVID-19 vaccine programs — doctors

MANILA, Philippines — While the national and local governments are focused on the Covid-19 pandemic and the expected and planned rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, the nation is also preparing for another crucial event — the May 2022 elections.

In an online forum, Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against Covid-19 (HPAAC) spokesperson Dr. Antonio Dans was asked if he thought some local government executives are making noise about their respective vaccination program to drumbeat their own efforts to garner support in the 2022 elections.

Dans said the public should not ascribe bad intentions on these efforts of politicians as the inoculation programs are meant to help the people during the pandemic.

“‘Wag naman natin lagyan ng masamang intention ang mga gustong gawin ng ating mga politicians. They are trying to help,” Dans said during a virtual briefing on Monday.

(Let us not set malicious intentions to what our politicians are trying to do. They are trying to help.)

“[T]hat’s how democracy works, the more good people do, the more they are elected to office… Let’s trust that our politicians have the best intentions in pushing for this program,” he added.

(Let us not think that those bad intentions are their only goal.)

The presidential elections is fixed on the second Monday of May (May 10, 2022), but the election period pursuant to Republic Act 7056 or the Synchronized National and Local Elections Law “should commence 90 days before the day of election and shall end 30 days after.”

For the position of president and vice president, the campaign period is fixed at 120 days prior to election day; while campaign period for the election of members of the House of Representatives and local elective provincial, city, and municipal officials is 45 days.

Senatorial elections has a 90-day campaign period.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said that face-to-face campaigning for the 2022 elections pose a huge challenge and risk amid the increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases in the country, even with the planned rollout of the vaccines early this quarter.

But Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said that face-to-face campaign activities may be allowed but with strict adherence to health protocols.

As of February 7, the country has a total of 537,310 Covid-19 cases. Of the sum, 26,333 are active cases while a total of 499,798 recovered from the disease.

The Department of Health (DOH) also reported that a total of 11,179 individuals have succumbed to the disease.

EDV