The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has embarked on an aggressive information drive in order to convince more coronavirus disease (COVD-19) vaccien doubters to get the jab.
Dubbed as Dagyaw 2021 Open Government Town Hall Meeting, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said it underscores the vaccination program towards the goal of reaching population protection.
Dagyaw is a series of open dialogues that aims to clarify government programs that affect local communities and gives a platform to regular citizens to raise local concerns to senior government officials.
Año described Dagyaw as a chance for the government to reach out to the people stressing it as “a platform of convergence for both the people and the government to discuss relevant social issues, this time around tackling the government’s latest efforts in vaccination against COVID-19 and its implication to reaching population protection.”
He added that Dagyaw 2021 is also an opportunity for the government to change the narrative of its fight against COVID-19 directing its message to the people as it “aims to hold in-depth discussions with stakeholders and shed light on timely issues involving the ongoing pandemic and how the government addresses them.’’
“With the country’s current political environment of mudslinging, dahil sa papalapit na eleksyon (with the approaching election). It is integral that the people are aware of the government’s COVID-19 efforts. Kailangang sa gitna ng ingay ng pulitika ay malaman ng mga tao na ang pamahalaan ay nagtatrabaho (In the midst of the political noise, the people should know that the government is working),” Año said.
Dagyaw 2021 launched initial salvo on Oct. 15 via zoom tele-conferencing platform and was live-streamed on the DILG Philippines Facebook page.
With this, Año noted that “it will put into premium relaying to the citizens the government’s plan and its progress to attaining population protection through its vaccination program.’’
The public can join Dagyaw 2021 by visiting the official Facebook page of the Philippine Open Government Partnership for details and announcements or by checking the DILG, Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) social media accounts for more information.
Año also exhorted all provincial local governments nationwide to hold their own version of Dagyaw in their respective jurisdictions “to bridge key players in local governance and the public towards improved delivery of public service.”
Through DILG Memorandum Circular 2021-106 released just last month, Año has enjoined the provincial governments to hold one Dagyaw town hall meeting between October until the end of the year. (Chito A. Chavez)