Senator Grace Poe asked on Friday the Department of Health (DOH) to give out free "vaccine passports" to Filipinos who were inoculated against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"The certificate as proof of vaccination should be at no cost to the recipient," Poe said in a statement.
“The standard document that our people will carry as their badge of protection that they have been vaccinated should not make them spend extra money because every peso is precious especially during these hard times,” she added.
Poe recently filed Senate Bill No. 1994 or her proposed "Vaccine Passport Act" which provides for the issuance of vaccine passport, or the certificate that an individual has received doses of the coronavirus vaccines and completed the course of COVID-19 immunization.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said this in already included in the government's national vaccination plans.
Under Poe's bill, the certificate would contain some basic personal information about the vaccinee, the type and purpose of the vaccines administered to the holder, the date of the vaccination, and the persons and institutions that administered the vaccine and other information deemed necessary by concerned authorities.
The measure also includes a provision that prohibits the collection of fees for the issuance, amendment or replacement of a vaccine passport; as well as penalties for offenses for possession of more than one vaccine passport, falsification and forgery.
During the Senate Committee of the Whole's hearing on Friday, Poe said the vaccine passports will be effective in documenting those who have already received doses of the coronavirus vaccines and also in reopening the country's economy.
"‘Pag naghanap ang ating mga kababayan, kabilang na ang mga OFW, ng trabaho at pinakita nila ‘yon, advantage na ‘yan sa kanila. Alam naman natin ‘yon ang kulang sa atin ngayon na kailangan talagang mas dumami ulit ang mga nagtatrabaho,” she said.
(If our people, including overseas Filipinos, look for jobs and present the passport, that's an advantage to them already. We all know our challenge with unemployment so we have to boost the number of those who have jobs.)
She said the vaccine passport can also be used for other emerging or reemerging infectious diseases in the future.
Poe said the DOH and relevant agencies must keep an organized record and database about the immunization program.