Sen. Joel Villanueva renewed Sunday his call to the government to prioritize essential workers, particularly minimum wage earners, in the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccination program.
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor and Employment, said the ability to sustain the country’s economic recovery relies heavily on inoculating those providing essential services to the public such as delivery riders, market attendants, and construction workers.
He said he will scrutinize the government’s inoculation plan as soon as the Senate convenes the Committee of the Whole Monday, as they expect officials of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) managing the pandemic response, as well as from the Department of Health, to attend.
“We have to make sure that workers providing essential services are included in the government’s priority list, on top of its initial pronouncements of prioritizing healthcare workers, the police and the military, and the elderly,” Villanueva said in a statement.
“Workers in the services industry, construction workers in public and private projects, market attendants, delivery riders, security guards, and workers in food retail and distribution networks are those who the government should consider to include in the priority list,” he stressed.
“They are the workers who keep the economy going. They should be included in the vaccination program,” he added.
The senator pointed out that these minimum wage earners work in high-risk workplaces such as construction sites, factories, groceries, and public markets, among others, and they rely on public transportation to move around
It is imperative for the government to provide them with access to vaccines since they are working for subsistence of their families, he stressed.
Villanueva had earlier filed Senate Resolution No. 598 to look into the government’s vaccination program to assess how workers would be covered given the initial pronouncements of the country's vaccine czar that the planned inoculation intends to cover 70 percent of the population in the next three to five years.
The lawmaker said a clear-cut plan from the government detailing how it plans to implement the distribution of vaccines will help assuage the concerns of both workers and businesses.
This will in turn, he said, help restore confidence and eventually boost the country’s economy.
“Our market attendants ensure that basic goods are readily available. Our garbage collectors help us keep our communities clean. Our security guards protect establishments. Our delivery riders allow us to buy our basic needs without going out of our houses and exposing ourselves to the risk of getting infected,” he said.
“That is why these are among the workers who must be included in the vaccination program because they provide essential services,” Villanueva said.