Former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has appealed to government officials to find a consensus on the COVID-19 vaccination plan if they are to convince the people to get vaccinated.
“Today, we are here to fight something, not someone: COVID-19. But we’re also here to build a consensus by showing our people that despite all the apprehension, there is a system that can be placed in the pipeline,” Cayetano said.
“If we count them, more than half don’t want to be vaccinated. Why? Because we’re setting a bad example,” Cayetano said, citing his interaction with barangay health workers who have expressed reluctance to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
Cayetano urged the government officials to demonstrate willingness to listen to expert perspectives and acquire enough knowledge regarding the vaccines through non-confrontational hearings.
“I speak to myself as much as I speak to you. Find a consensus rather than find someone to fight,” he said.
Cayetano made the appeal to fellow lawmakers and members of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) during Taguig City’s COVID-19 Vaccination Dry Run held at the Lakeshore Mega Complex late This week.
Present during the dry run were Philippine COVID-19 Vaccination Czar and Chief Implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr.; Deputy Chief Implementer Secretary Vince Dizon; Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III; National Center for Disease Prevention and Control Program Manager Dr. Jose Gerard B. Belimac; Metro Manila Development Authority General Manager Jojo Garcia; and DILG Undersecretary for Operations Epimaco V. Densing III.
Cayetano has been pushing for a comprehensive, clear, and transparent vaccination plan understandable to ordinary Filipinos.
“If we say that we are one, we are in this together, we heal as one, we win as one, we recover as one…[let’s] change our mindset,” he said.
