FILE Sen. Panfilo Lacson
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday said that “bayanihan,” and not the fear of getting arrested, should be the main motivation of Filipinos to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We should get vaccinated not so much due to the fear of being arrested if we refuse, but because we have the Bayanihan spirit,” he said in a press statement.
“We want to do our part to protect those around us, we want to do our part to achieve herd immunity, and we want to do our part to finally end the threat posed by the pandemic on our health and on our economy,” he added.
Lacson made this remark after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened that “hard-headed” people refusing to get vaccinated may be arrested.
The senator also said that the government must practice “restraint” and “transparency” in order to save resources.
“For government, this means being transparent and exercising restraint in spending our already severely limited resources,” he said.
“That said, if we see that our authorities are showing efforts in getting the job done effectively and efficiently, then we can do no less by getting the jab done,” he added.
Lacson also urged the government to “get the job done” by improving the vaccination program in the country since the best way to solve this problem is to get the Filipinos to trust these vaccines and to get vaccinated as well.
As of June 21, Monday, the country has administered 8,407,342 doses which comprised 6,253,400 for the first dose, and 2,153,942 for the second dose. — Sofia Vertucio, Inquirer trainee
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