‘No vax, no ride’ draws flak

At least three senators on Thursday rejected the “no vaccination, no ride” policy of the Department of Transportation (DoTr) which would bar unvaccinated individuals from riding all modes of public transportation under Alert Level 3.

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said executive officials should not discriminate against the unvaccinated and should instead explore alternative measures to encourage them to avail the Covid-19 jabs.

“There should be no discrimination among the riding public. Instead of barring them from riding public transports, DoTr should come up with brighter ideas on how to protect the unvaxxed from the deadly virus,” said Sotto.

The Senate President further reminded the government that it should also serve those who opted not to get immunized against the virus.

“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 said.

Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan expressed a similar sentiment and said the government should offer incentives that would encourage to the public to avail of the jabs and noted that unvaccinated commuters should not be forced into availing the anti-virus shots as there is still the “freedom of choice.”