Local governments outside Metro Manila will issue executive orders to carry out the “no vaccine, no ride” policy in their respective jurisdictions, the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) said Sunday.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has barred the unvaccinated from using public transportation, citing a Metro Manila Council (MMC) resolution as legal basis to implement it.
But Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) president and Quirino Gov. Dakila Cua said they would introduce modifications to the policy to accommodate vaccinated parents who must take their unvaccinated children to the doctor.
Cua said he supports restricting the movement of the unvaccinated to slow the transmission of COVID-19, saying the new policy can really help.
Also on Sunday, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) urged public utility vehicle drivers to report enforcers who may use the new “no vaccination, no ride” policy to extort money.
LTFRB technical division chief Joel Bolano said the government will not allow enforcers to abuse the policy, which will be implemented in Metro Manila starting Monday, and harass drivers into giving them money.
Earlier, the DOTr said it would deploy plainclothes enforcers in public utility vehicles (PUVs) to ensure compliance with its “no vaccination, no ride” policy, which begins Monday.
“We will be deploying mystery passengers to ensure compliance with the policy even if there are no uniformed enforcers around,” said Transportation Assistant Secretary Mark Steven Pastor, speaking in Filipino at an online briefing Friday.
Under a Department of Transportation (DOTr) order issued Jan. 11, access to public transportation is limited only to fully vaccinated individuals, who must show a valid vaccination card (physical or digital) and a government-issued ID with a photo and an address.
Pastor said the enforcers would be deployed at “strategic locations” to ensure compliance by transport workers and passengers. He added that the move would ensure that the people follow the rules even when no uniformed enforcers are around.