P15,000 for each vaccinated family

 ‘Lawmaker files Ayuda sa Bakuna Bill’

FULLY VACCINATED families may receive a one-time cash assistance worth P15,000 if House Bill Number 10644 filed by Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas is passed into law.

Vargas filed the proposed legislation also known as the “Ayuda sa Bakuna” bill to benefit those families whose households are fully inoculated against the deadly Covid-19 disease. If approved, the cash assistance program shall be under the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The cash aid will largely help poor families and the vulnerable sectors of the society.

“This (proposed law) includes senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and persons with comorbidities. The program will, however, cover all eligible Filipino families, as long as living and qualified members have complied with the government’s prescribed vaccination program,” Vargas said.

“This measure not only alleviates the sufferings of our fellow Filipinos in this two-year global pandemic, it also helps solve the problem by encouraging science-backed vaccination and accelerating our achievement of herd immunity,” he added.

The news of Vargas' bill went viral on social media and was welcomed by netizens.  

Last November, the Department of the Interior and Local Government proposed to withhold a portion of the benefits of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program as one of several suggested measures to ramp up vaccination nationwide in order to reach herd immunity before 2021 ends.

The DILG said based on the latest data from the DSWD, only 12% of the 4.4 million 4Ps beneficiaries nationwide have been vaccinated despite the various campaigns and interventions implemented by the government and the private sector.

“Our proposal has never been to delist or remove a 4Ps beneficiary from the program but merely to withhold a portion of the benefit – the health and nutrition grant – until such time that the individual has been vaccinated. The intention behind this proposal is sincere and clear: to boost the inoculation drive in order to rise above the COVID-19 nightmare and reach population protection as soon as possible. Nonetheless, we defer to the wisdom of the President if our suggested policy will be adopted or not,” the DILG said.

The DILG also urged local governments to adopt other creative ways to change the minds of their constituents, including the 4Ps beneficiaries, from hesitancy to vaccine acceptance and willingness. This may be in the form of new incentives such as food or rice packs, raffle bonanza for the inoculated population, and one-stop shops offering a smorgasbord of government services to include vaccination, among others, it added.

“As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic requires concerted action and cooperation from each and every citizen. The act of one has serious effects on the rest of the populace. It is the moral and ethical obligation of every Filipino to be vaccinated for us to be able to end this pandemic. In a public health emergency, the common good must prevail,” the DILG said.

The proposal was trashed after it drew widespread criticisms from the public and lawmakers, and various civil groups calling it “anti-poor.”

The 4Ps is a human development measure of the national government under the DSWD that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor, to improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18. (Mindanao Examiner)