De Lima calls for fair policies instead of punishing the unvaccinated

BOARDING PASS A staff of the Inter-Agency Council for Traffic ensures that only passengers who present valid vaccination and identification cards are allowed to board buses at Edsa Bus Carousel station on Main Avenue, Quezon City, as the government implements the “no vaccination, no ride” policy in Metro Manila’s public transportation on Monday. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday slammed the new “no vaccination, no ride” policy in Metro Manila, saying the government should focus on solving the issue of “unequal” access to vaccines in the country rather than “penalizing” those who don’t get their shots.

De Lima, the chairperson of the Senate social justice committee, urged the government to focus on overcoming vaccine accessibility and hesitancy.

“Simply put, a government that has failed to deliver enough vaccines for the people at this point has no business demanding that everyone should already be vaccinated by this time. Government efforts have to be devoted more to initiatives aimed at achieving maximum vaccination rate and other pandemic-related responses,” she said in a statement.

“Instead of coming up with policies that divide the populace between the vaxxed and unvaxxed, the government should step up on its vaccination information drive and solve the major problem on vaccine accessibility,” she added.

READ: ‘No vax, no ride’ policy starts in Metro Manila’s public transport

On Monday, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) began enforcing a “no vaccination, no ride” policy in Metro Manila’s public transportation where commuters will be required to provide vaccination cards, vaccination certificates, and government-issued IDs as supporting documents before boarding public transportation vehicles.

“When several, if not many, have already been boosted while many are still waiting for their first dose, there is unequal access. Government must first solve this problem of access to vaccines before it starts penalizing the unvaccinated,” De Lima said.

Moreover, the senator pointed out the new policy burdens jeepney drivers, who must inspect the vaccination cards of every passenger, as well as the PNP (Philippine National Police), whose time and energy should be spent on more pressing law enforcement tasks, rather than inspecting commuters’ vaccination cards.

READ: ‘No vax, no ride’ deemed unfair to PUV drivers, too

“Most of all, it is unfair to the unvaxxed who, due to no fault of their own, remain to be without access to the vaccine, or who have been bombarded with anti-vaccine propaganda by an anti-vaxxer public official since the start of the Duterte administration,” she added.

“Let’s not forget that the Filipino’s distrust of vaccines started with her, as tolerated by this government during its politically-motivated Dengvaxia witch hunt,” she further said.

Maximum tolerance

Former Philippine National Police chief Guillermo Eleazar said maximum tolerance should be used in enforcing the new policy while stressing the need to get as many people vaccinated as possible with mass information campaigns.

“Sa kabila ng polisiyang ito, sana ay magkaroon na ng rason ang mga kababayan natin na magpabakuna hindi lang para makasakay ng mga pampublikong sasakyan kundi para maging protektado na rin laban sa COVID-19,” he said.

(With this new policy, I hope Filipinos will be convinced to get vaccinated not only to use public transportation but also to protect themselves from COVID-19.)

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