The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) vowed Monday, Nov. 8, to carefully study the proposed mandatory vaccination of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries, even as it cited the need to amend the 4Ps Law before the recipients are required to get vaccinated against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to receive their subsidies.

DSWD Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova said they have yet to formally receive the proposal of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“We still have to receive the proposal from the DILG. The DSWD fully supports the vaccination program and we are conducting massive campaign thru advocacies like IEC materials and electronic FDS (family development session) on the benefits of the vaccine so that the beneficiaries can give their informed consent,” she told the Manila Bulletin in a Viber message on Monday.

There are more than 4.4 million 4Ps households nationwide.

In an interview over Radyo5, Relova explained that the mandatory vaccination of the 4Ps beneficiaries is not part of the program conditionalities as provided under Republic Act No. 11310, also known as “An Act Institutionalizing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).”

“Nais po namin na ipabatid na sa ngayon ang curent law ng 4Ps, yung RA 11310, hindi po requirement ang bakuna sa pag-qualify ng mga benepisyaryo na makatanggap ng kanilang subsidy under the 4Ps Law at iba pang programs ng DSWD (We would like to inform the public that the current law of 4Ps, RA 11310, the mandatory vaccination is not a requirement before the beneficiaries receive their subsidies and other programs of the DSWD),” she said.

“However po pagaaralan po natin kung anuman ang proposal ng DILG pero sa ngayon po kasi we have to stick with the current conditionalities na mayroon under the law ng 4Ps po (However, we will study whatever the DILG proposal is, but for now we have to stick with the current conditionalities under the law of 4Ps),” she assured.

She said so far, around 526,000 4Ps beneficiaries have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Relova laments that some beneficiaries refused to receive COVID-19 vaccines because of misinformation, which is now being addressed by the agency’s information campaign.

"Kinakailangan po nating pag-aralang mabuti ito kasi nga po mayroon tayong current na batas. Ang batas po kasi is above kaysa sa mga issuance na ibibigay ng ating ahensya kaya kinakailangan po we have to amend the current law para po maipasok natin sya as conditionality, otherwise baka po maka-violate tayo ng batas (We need to study this carefully because we have to follow the current law. Because the law is above than any issuances that will be issued by the agency, so we need to amend the current law so that we can make it as a conditionality, otherwise we may violate the law),” she pointed out.