Senator Sonny Angara on Sunday stressed that vaccines should not be imposed on the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), instead, they should be educated on the importance of getting vaccinated.

"Hindi natin pwedeng pilitin silang magpabakuna, pero pwede natin silang turuan at bigyan ng mga guidance dito sa pagiging bakunado," he told DZRH in an interview.

(We can’t force them into getting vaccinated, but we can guide them into getting vaccinated.)

The Department of Interior and Local Government has been pushing for a "no vaccine, no subsidy" policy for 4Ps beneficiaries in a bid to hike vaccination rates in the sector. Several lawmakers, even the Department of Justice and the chief enforcer Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), opposed the plan as vaccination is not included in the conditions required in the law that institutionalized the 4Ps.

"Dati kasi ang konsepto ng 4Ps, papasukin mo yung mga anak mo, pa-check up mo, saka niyo matatanggap yung monthly ayuda niyo sa ilalim ng 4PS. Dito i-tweak natin nang konti, dagdagan natin na makinig kayo sa isang lecture," he said.

(Before the concept of 4Ps, get your child to schools, get them check-ups, and you can get your monthly aid under the 4Ps. Here we can slightly tweak it, we can make them listen to a lecture.)

According to Angara, also the chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said the 4Ps and other disadvantaged sectors will still receive government aid under the 2022 national budget.

"Nakakalat lang siya sa iba’t ibang ahensya ng gobyerno," he said.

(It is spread out across different agencies.)

Retrenched workers have programs under the Department of Labor, unemployed staff abroad can also get help from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Angara said that in the proposed P5.024-trillion budget, P3.5 trillion are new appropriations, while P1.6 trillion are under the automatic appropriation, covering local government funds and the country's loan payments.