Instead of making vaccination compulsory for employees, senatorial aspirant and labor leader Sonny Matula on Sunday, Nov. 28, asked the government to consider incentivizing vaccine recipients.
Matula, a lawyer who is running under Vice President Leni Robredo’s ticket, maintained that they support the government’s aim to vaccinate every Filipino.
He, however, hit the recent directive of the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) for the mandatory inoculation of onsite workers in areas where there is enough supply of vaccines.
Those who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will be asked to take an RT-PCR test or antigen tests at their own expense.
“Sa kasalukuyan, ang batas po natin hindi naman compulsory ang bakuna (At present, our laws do not make vaccination compulsory),” Matula said when he guested on Robredo’s weekly radio show over dzXL.
The labor leader cited Section 2 of Republic Act 11525, which covers the Declaration of Policy.
READ: Galvez paves way for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination
He explained that the vaccination card, given to those who receive either a first dose or a full dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, is not a compulsory requirement for employment, education, and government transactions.
“So, ibig sabihin lamang niyan ay hindi compulsory iyong bakuna kaya iyong mga rules na nilalabas ng gobyerno natin ay dapat hindi compulsory. Dapat may enticement siguro, o incentive mas maganda iyon (that means vaccination is not compulsory so the rules that our government is releasing should not be compulsory. It should have an enticement, or incentive is much better),” Matula explained.
His remarks came on the eve of the government’s three-day national vaccination drive set from Monday, Nov. 29, to Wednesday, December 1.
Robredo herself has been pushing for incentivizing those who are resisting the vaccine.
Her own initiative, the Vaccine Express, gives out incentives such as gas allowance, grocery packs, and five kilos of rice for those who will get their jabs.
READ: COVID vaccination for Pinoys should focus on incentives, not penalties — Robredo
Matula also explained that some areas do not have enough vaccine supply for all workers there. There are also people who have medical conditions that prevent them from receiving the vaccine, as well as some whose religious beliefs also do not allow vaccination.
“Sa palagay ko, dapat natin respetuhin yan (In my opinion, we should respect that),” he said.
Matula is a convenor of the ALL4Leni or Alliance of Labor Leaders for Leni.
Their five-point agenda are: cash aid and safe working spaces for everyone, increase in wages, end of contractualization or security of tenure, the rights of labor unions, and unemployment insurance.