San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said on Tuesday that he is not in favor of the proposed "no bakuna, no ayuda" policy by the national government to curb vaccine hesitancy and increase the vaccination rate of the country against COVID-19.
"Para sa'kin (For me) let me convince them first. Kung meron sigurong di pa vaccinated sa 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) (If there are still unvaccinated 4Ps beneficiaries, allow me to talk to them, educate and inform them," Zamora said in an interview with ANC.
"Kapag naintindihan nila (When they understand) how important these vaccines are for their families, how it will affect their lives, they might just change their minds," he added.
On Nov. 5, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Epimaco Densing announced the plan to withhold the cash aid of 4Ps beneficiaries who do not want to get vaccinated against COVID-19, saying that the government has already done enough to educate them and curb vaccine hesitancy.
"Napag-usapan na dun sa 4Ps pinag-uusapan natin mga 6 -7 milyong kababayan natin. Kung hindi sila magpapabakuna hindi natin ire-release sa kanila 'yung kanilang ayuda under the 4Ps. Maghihigpit na tayo (We're talking about 6-7 million 4Ps beneficiaries. If they will not get themselves vaccinated, we will not release their cash aid under the 4Ps. We will be strict about this)," Densing said.