Lawmakers reject transport ban on unvaccinated

By Alyssa Nicole O. Tan, Reporter

SENATORS on Thursday rejected a government plan to ban unvaccinated people from public transportation in the National Capital Region.

“There should be no discrimination among the riding public,” Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said in a statement. “Instead of barring them from riding public transports, the Department of Transportation should come up with brighter ideas on how to protect the unvaccinated from the deadly virus.”

The senator said the government has a duty to serve people who don’t want to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Some coaches or buses should be reserved for unvaccinated riders, he added.

Transportation Undersecretary Artemio U. Tuazon, Jr. on Tuesday issued an order limiting public transportation access to unvaccinated people in the capital region.

Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said the government should incentivize rather than penalize the unvaccinated because they have a choice to refuse vaccines.

Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva noted that aside from incentives, educating people about the benefits of vaccines should be a top government priority.

“An all-out ban on unvaccinated individuals in public transportation — with little to no viable alternative options — will only create resentment and animosity, and will further discourage them to get jabbed,” he said in a statement.

Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay-Angeles questioned the feasibility of the order. She said retrofitting public vehicles was more practical.

She said the ban “does not protect those who are yet to be vaccinated” because it prevents them from traveling to vaccination sites.

Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, Sr. asked whether there are enough vaccines even for people willing to get vaccinated. “It’s unfair.”

“Indiscriminately punishing even the willing but have no choice due to government shortcomings in providing for their protection should first be taken into consideration before taking a drastic action of possibly denying those people their means of livelihood to feed their families,” he said in a statement.

“It is a different matter altogether if vaccines are available to all,” he added.

“Let us promote the vaccination of the willing,” Senator Aquilino Martin “Koko” Pimentel III said in a Viber message. “There is no law that makes COVID-19 vaccination mandatory, and if ever such a law is passed, this would be unconstitutional in my view.”

He added that people who choose not to get inoculated for medical or religious reasons should not suffer, noting that even vaccinated people could be carriers of the virus.

Senator Mary Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares said she understood the proposed ban because majority of those that have died of the coronavirus or were hospitalized were unvaccinated.

“We should encourage everyone to get vaccinated unless they have a legitimate underlying health reason not to,” she said in a Viber message.