THE “no vaccination, no ride” policy in public transportation for unvaccinated individuals in Metro Manila, which has been criticized to be discriminatory and anti-poor, will be lifted by February 1, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said yesterday.
Goddes Libiran, who is an assistant secretary at the DOTr, said the discontinuation of the directive is in line with the shift of the National Capital Region (NCR) to Alert Level 2 from Alert Level 3.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases have agreed to downgrade the NCR and the provinces of Batanes, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Biliran, Southern Leyte, and Basilan to Alert Level 2 from February 1 until 15 following an improvement in their coronavirus disease (COVID-19) indicators.
The DOTr announced the ban on the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated in public transportations in Metro Manila amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the region, which was believed to have been principally caused by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus.
Under the policy, which took effect on January 16, unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals are not allowed to ride any land, sea and air public transportation, except if they have medical conditions that prevent them from getting vaccinated and those on essential travel. Workers were later exempted from the policy, supposedly for one month, starting last January 26. They were given 30 days to be inoculated or to complete their vaccination.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the public transportation ban and similar restrictions against unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals in Metro Manila are automatically lifted when the region’s quarantine status goes down to Alert Level 2.
“Yes, those (policies) will be lifted because they are anchored only on Alert Level 3,” said Año.
Libiran said the department order limiting public transports in the capital region to fully vaccinated individuals included a provision stating that the policy would be automatically lifted once the NCR’s alert status is relaxed to Alert Level 2 or 1.
“The no vaccination, no ride policy is not perpetual. It will just be implemented while NCR is under Alert Level 3, 4, or 5,” Libiran said.
Asked if the government has considered extending the implementation of the policy in areas under Alert Level 2, Año said: “None yet because the precondition of the no vaccination, no ride is Alert Level 3, including the memo circular that we issued, restricting the movement of the unvaccinated, that’s also Alert Level 3.”
The DILG has earlier asked local government units to restrict unvaccinated individuals to stay in their homes, unless for essential missions like going to work and buying food and medicines, and to send them home if they are found in the streets.
Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) member Dr. Rontgene Solante said the DOTr policy should remain to protect the unvaccinated from COVID-19.
He said COVID-19 remains present and those who are unvaccinated remain vulnerable especially to severe to critical levels that could lead to hospitalization or death.
He added that the movement of the unvaccinated should be limited, to prevent them from getting infected and avoid transmission that could lead to another increase in cases. — With Victor Reyes and Jocelyn Montemayor
