Unvaccinated seek PAO assistance over ‘discrimination’

Persida Acosta

MANILA, Philippines — “Thousands” of complaints by unvaccinated individuals have already flooded the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) for the past several days crying “discrimination” over policies on people who have not yet received their COVID-19 vaccines, Persida Acosta, chief of PAO, said on Tuesday.

Acosta reiterated that there was no law yet enforcing mandatory vaccination as she also questioned some government policies that limit the movement of unvaccinated persons, such as the controversial “no vaccination, no ride” policy of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

“I have been answering several text messages of complaints from different parts of the country complaining about the restrictions on the unvaccinated. There are thousands of them just here on my cell phone alone,” Acosta told the Inquirer.

One of the text messages she received was from a group of public school teachers in Cebu City, complaining about the “no vaccine card, no entry policy” or, if they are unvaccinated, “no COVID-19 test, no entry.”

Another complaint, was from a person in Baclaran in Parañaque City, who was restrained from claiming the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) cash assistance until they were vaccinated.

“Those are just samples. There are plenty of discrimination going on. My cell phone is overflowing [with complaints],” said Acosta, who is also unvaccinated.

While she refuses to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and awaits for a protein-based jab, Acosta has something of a “wonder drug” that she believes would prevent her from getting infected with the coronavirus—the antiparasitic ivermectin.

“The people would laugh at me. Imagine, the DOJ (Department of Justice) and PAO sued so many people over the experimental Dengvaxia then I would be the first to line up [for] the COVID-19 vaccine? I would look like an idiot, I allowed myself to be experimented,” said Acosta, a lawyer by profession.

The Department of Health had earlier said ivermectin was not effective in treating COVID-19. INQ