Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III urged the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to come up with “brighter ideas” on how to protect unvaccinated people from COVID-19 instead of barring them from riding public transport.
The “no vaccination, no ride” policy, which is set to take effect on Monday, January 17, in the National Capital Region (NCR), is a form of discrimination, according to Sotto.
“There should be no discrimination among the riding public. Our government should also serve the people who still don’t want to get their vaccines,” he stressed.
“There are many options, but to destabilize the means of transportation of our people should not be the only option. Think. Explore. There are plenty of other ways to fight the pandemic,” Sotto added.
The enforcement of the policy was announced by the DOTr on Wednesday, Jan. 11. It is for the “benefit of the majority and the common good,” according to the transportation regulator.
“We do not discriminate against the unvaccinated, but we are protecting them,” the DOTr said in statement.
“The [p]olicy was made to protect all — whether vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals — to safeguard those that are most at risk, our healthcare system, and our exhausted medical workers,” it added.IMT
