THE DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has proposed to withhold a portion of the benefits of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) as one of several suggested measures to ramp up vaccination nationwide in order to reach herd immunity before the end of the year.
The DILG said based on the latest data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (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 in a statement.
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 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.(Zamboanga Post)
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