WAITING FOR AID In this photo taken in August, residents of Payatas village in Quezon City queue to receive cash aid from the government. A proposal to delay the release of the subsidy for unvaccinated beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer program is being discussed by government agencies. (Photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Monday said the mandatory vaccination for beneficiaries of a government-sponsored cash aid program was still just a proposal to address the low inoculation rate among indigents.
He said it could be junked by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), but stressed that local chief executives were all for it to address the low vaccination turnout among recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Under the 4Ps law or Republic Act No. 11310, Filipino households below the poverty line with underage members must comply with certain conditions to receive subsidies, such as pregnant women receiving prenatal and postnatal care, and children getting adequate nutrition and attending classes in school at least 85 percent of the time.
The official told reporters that he was fine with the criticism of the proposal, which he said was simply part of possible measures to attain herd immunity and curb the possibility of the mutation of another new COVID-19 variant.
“(The Department of the Interior and Local Government) won’t be implementing that. It depends on the DSWD. In terms of legality, we defer to the Department of Justice,” he pointed out.
Año acknowledged that it was not indicated in the 4Ps law that parents or recipients had to be immunized, “but the President, through an executive order, has the inherent power to require that if he wants to require it.”
He said that he wanted inoculation of 4Ps beneficiaries to be made mandatory because indigents were among the vulnerable sectors.
“(4Ps beneficiaries) do not have the money for treatment if they contract COVID-19. The cost of treatment being so high, where would they get the money? Of course they would seek treatment in government hospitals. For those who die (from COVID-19), they would have to be cremated and they would still need money for cremation. The DSWD and the LGUs (local government units) would still have to pay for that,” he said.
“If you’re vaccinated, it will be a big help to avoid developing severe or critical COVID-19. Out of the minimum 4 million 4Ps beneficiaries, only 12 percent are vaccinated,” Año added.
He said that it was not brand preference that was causing vaccine hesitancy among indigents, but most likely the lack of a sense of urgency.
“Maybe most of them think it’s bothersome to go to vaccination centers. They don’t have that feeling of urgency or they don’t have the time to go to vaccination centers because they’re focused more on earning for their day-to-day living,” Año said.
“We can’t do anything if (the proposal) isn’t implemented because the right to refuse to be inoculated is in the law. But remember, the coronavirus does not recognize those rights and the laws. It doesn’t choose (who to infect),” Año warned.
Palace support
Malacañang on Monday agreed that mandatory vaccination could be required, but only after amending the 4Ps law.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing that he believed that mandating COVID-19 vaccination was a valid reason to amend the law.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. also noted that the government cash aid need not be forfeited and could just be delayed until the beneficiaries got inoculated.
He said Israel and the United States used to have high vaccine hesitancy, but they now have a high vaccination rate after requiring certain sectors to get the jab.
Galvez maintained his position that vaccination should be made mandatory. “We will not be able to get through this pandemic unless everybody has been vaccinated,” he said.
“Mandated vaccination is necessary. It’s like when we mandated no smoking in public areas. What we are experiencing now is more difficult as it has a big impact on our economy and health,” he said, adding that it was also similar to evacuating people during a typhoon to protect their welfare.
More criticism
Galvez said the 34 percent who remained hesitant to get the jab still made up a significant portion of the population who could spread the coronavirus.
“That’s a sizable (number), 34 million roaming around like a time bomb,” he said.
More lawmakers on Monday expressed their opposition to the proposal.
Sen. Nancy Binay said in a statement to the Inquirer that depriving indigent Filipinos of conditional cash subsidies for not getting vaccinated hid the true reason for low vaccination rates and would punish the poor for something that was out of their control.
“It’s not vaccine hesitancy that gives the true picture of why the percentage of vaccinated people remains low. It is more of the lack of access of [LGUs] and the private sector to the vaccines,” she said.
Binay cited multiple problems in the supply, logistics and distribution of the vaccines, resulting in the “wholesale expiration” of the jabs.
All these “dwarf the issues of vaccine hesitancy, which, if you think about it, is typically prevalent in only some senior citizens,” she said.
“There are better ways to convince people [to get vaccinated] without forcing them. It’s not fair as well to punish one sector just to camouflage glaring operational ineptitude,” Binay said.
“If the DILG is serious, it should instead try incentivizing getting vaccinated, but those who refuse to get jabbed should not be punished for it,” she said.
As the DILG’s proposal would require legislation, Sen. Joel Villanueva said the executive could not expect any support from the Senate.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson also said that the government must undertake measures to address this problem, such as giving incentives for citizens taking the jab, instead of threatening to punish them.
While Lacson agreed that all Filipinos should get the jab, he said withholding cash aid for poor families might not be “the best way for the government to get its job done.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto agreed that the government should offer incentives to people who take the jab, and the freedom of choice on the brands they preferred.