Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. has continued to suppory for the delay of the distribution of cash assistance to recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) if they are not yet vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Galvez said the 4Ps aid will serve as an incentive after they noticed that many people belonging to the poor sector are still unvaccinated.
Accordingly, only 12 percent of the 4.4 million beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer program have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Nakita natin nasa risk area itong mga tumatanggap ng 4Ps (We have seen that the beneficiaries of the 4Ps are in the risk area). The higher perspective of the constitutional mandate protecting the people and the State. Iyon ang dapat isipin natin, ‘yong higher mandate (that’s what we need to think of, the higher mandate),” Galvez said during the arrival of 2.805 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine at Villamor Air Base, Pasay City on Monday night, Nov. 8.
The so-called “no vaccine, no ayuda” policy was raised by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the lead agency in the distribution of the 4Ps cash assistance, to entice more people to get vaccinated.
Galvez, DILG Secretary Eduardo Ano, and DSWD Secretary Roland Bautista are all retired generals and former Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Due to apparent legal issues, the proposal was opposed by some lawmakers, government officials, and groups that tagged it as an anti-poor policy.
Among those who disapproved the proposal was Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who said that the government should not suspend the distribution of cash assistance of an individual on the basis of his or her vaccination status.
He said that under the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, vaccination cards shall not be an additional mandatory requirement for government transactions, including receiving the cash aid from 4Ps, among others.
But Galvez insisted that local government units (LGUs) should be given the freedom to implement their own “strategies” to boost their inoculation drive, including delaying financial assistance to unvaccinated 4Ps beneficiaries.
He mentioned a local chief executive who supposedly warned his/her constituents that they will not receive cash aid if they are not vaccinated.
“May isang LGU na talagang sinabi niya sa mga tao: ‘Kapag hindi kayo nagpavaccine, hindi namin kayo bibigyan ng ayuda.’ Dumagsa ang mga tao. Ngayon ang kanyang city, almost 90 percent... 97 percent ang kanyang ano. Nauuna siya sa kanyang mga city (There was one LGU that told the people: ‘If you don’t get the vaccine, we will not give you cash aid.’ The people rushed Now, the city is almost 90... 97 percent . The city was ahead of the other areas),” he said.
Galvez did not mention the specific LGU involved although he noted that this was a good example of how giving incentives will work to accomplish a certain goal, this time, raising the vaccination output nationwide.
“Dapat ibigay na natin sa LGU ang diskarte. Maraming diskarte eh. Gusto naman ng tao, ang ano lang kulang lang sa motivation. We used the 4Ps as an incentive. Hindi siya disincentive (We should let the LGUs do their own strategy. There are a lot of strategies. The people really want but they lack motivation. We used the 4Ps as an incentive. This is not a disincentive),” he said.