REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/Files
MANILA, Philippines — More senators, including presidential aspirants Senators Panfilo Lacson and Manny Pacquiao, on Monday expressed opposition to the proposed “no vaccine, no subsidy” policy for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.
In a statement, Pacquiao said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) proposal is “illegal, oppressive and anti-poor.”
“If the DILG had consulted their lawyers, they would have been made aware that adding another condition for availing the 4Ps subsidy by themselves is illegal and unconstitutional and only Congress can do that,” Pacquiao said.
“If they push through with their plan, they will punish the poor twice over: first, for not getting vaccinated for one reason or another, and then for simply being poor,” he added.
The senator stressed that indigent families need the monthly subsidy from the government “so they can survive from day to day” precisely because they have no income and can barely earn a living.
Pacquiao said that while he supports vaccination, the government should not deny subsidies to people who do not get vaccinated.
“Kung ‘di nila ibibigay yang health allowance kanino yan mapupunta? [If they don’t give the health allowance, where will that go?]” Pacquiao asked.
“May allocation na yan kaya huwag naman natin itong ipagkait sa mga mahihirap nating kababayan kahit hindi pa sila bakunado [There’s already allocation for that so they should not deny that from poor Filipinos even if they remain unvaccinated],” he pointed out.
Instead of the DILG’s proposal, Pacquiao said the government should explain to 4Ps beneficiaries that they stand to benefit from getting vaccinated against COVID-19 since the economy can recover more quickly if the pandemic is contained as soon as possible through an accelerated vaccination program.
For his part, Lacson said that it would be more prudent for the DILG and other concerned authorities to consider an incentivized approach to vaccination rather than a blanket “no vaccine, no aid” policy.
“While we agree that all Filipinos should get the jab done, is withholding much-needed aid for poor families the best way for the government to get its job done?” Lacson said.
“Even from a health and medical perspective, not all of our citizens can be vaccinated, so it stands to reason that a socio-economic safety net should also be approached in the same manner,” he added.
READ: Robredo camp questions proposed ‘no vax, no subsidy’ policy for 4Ps beneficiaries
Other senators also rejected the DILG’s proposal as they called for incentives to those who get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“[L] et’s incentivize people to get vaccinated. And we can start by giving them brands they like,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said.
Should there be any effort to include a provision on the “no vaccine, no subsidy” proposal into the 2022 national budget, it will be “dead on arrival” in the Senate, according to Senator Joel Villanueva.
He said it is still premature to impose “a vaccination mandate on welfare recipients” when the Philippines has yet “to reach the midpoint of our target number of citizens to be vaccinated.”
“We should not deny dole-outs to vaccine holdouts,” Villanueva added.
As he noted, only 38.3 percent of the country’s target population have been fully vaccinated.
READ: No vaxx, no cash for the poor: Missing the numbers
‘Community peer pressure’
Meanwhile, Villanueva urged the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to use “community peer pressure” by tapping vaccinated 4Ps members to convince other hesitant beneficiaries to get inoculated.
Aside from this, the DSWD should use its communications, advertising, and printing budget of around P355 million for 2022 to fund an “education and information” campaign that will address concerns of “people under their sphere of influence,” he added.
For 2022, the DSWD is asking for P115.67 billion to fund the 4Ps program with a target 4.4 million household beneficiaries, Villanueva noted.
Senators Nancy Binay and Imee Marcos attributed the number of unvaccinated Filipinos to the lack of vaccine access in the country.
“So, bakit kailangan ipasa ang sisi sa 4Ps?” Binay asked, stressing the need to incentivize those who have gotten themselves inoculation to promote vaccination among beneficiaries.
(So why will we fault the 4Ps beneficiaries?)