Iloilo City defends vaccine aid to Iloilo, Guimaras towns

The national government’s “whole of nation” approach to the COVID-19 pandemic allows the Iloilo City government to help aid members of the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) with their COVID-19 vaccine needs, lawyers for the local government said on Tuesday, October 19.

Peter Millare of the City Legal Office told Rappler in an interview that Republic Act No. 11525 or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 does not expressly prohibit “vaccine sharing” among local government units (LGUs).

RA No. 11525, Millare pointed out, expresses a “whole-of-nation” approach to COVID-19 vaccination that encourages the city to help out in speeding up the inoculation drive in Western Visayas, especially Panay island.

Millare spoke after Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas defended his aid to other local government units, saying he was willing to go to jail for efforts to improve public health conditions in the city and nearby provinces.

Treñas also told Rappler in a Viber message on Tuesday that the MIGEDC members, as well as the Iloilo towns of Barotac Viejo and Leon, have been seeking help for additional vaccines.

Millare said the city, the business and government center of Western Visayas, recognizes that non-residents, especially workers, have equal opportunity to health services. He also cited the city’s vaccination accomplishments as evidence that aid for other LGUs was not depriving residents.

The city has already reached 86.29% COVID vaccination coverage as of October 17, according to the Department of Health-Western Visayas situational report.

The city government has given between 500 to 1,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines to MIGEDC members, which include the municipalities of Cabatuan, Leganes, Oton, Pavia, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara; and the province of Guimaras.

The city sourced these donated vaccines from its own procurement of 600,000 AstraZeneca doses, which it ordered in January 2021.

Treñas had earlier responded to criticisms made by a radio station questioning the validity of the city’s “vaccine-sharing” scheme.

“If there is anything illegal in this desire of the city to help our neighboring municipalities and Guimaras by donating some of our vaccines to save lives, then I am ready to go to jail,” he said in a Facebook post on October 15.

“Public service is helping one another, doing our best to give protection to our fellow Ilonggos. If I am not allowed to do it under the law, if I have done something illegal, if I have done something immoral, then so be it. I submit myself to our authorities so that I will be brought to jail,” he added.

Consistent

The city’s vaccine aid program is not new. 

In February 2021, Treñas was among the country’s mayors who said it is essential for vaccination programs to include non-residents who regularly engage in their areas, like workers and students.

“R.A. 11525 is laid out of a ‘whole-of-nation’ approach, meaning to say that vaccine sharing is being encouraged out of that. Given that there is no express prohibition, it is deemed actually allowed,” Millare said.

Another City Legal Office lawyer, Fydah Sabando, noted  that giving vaccines to the city’s neighbors was an offshoot of Treñas’ previous appeals for more COVID-19 vaccine doses from  the national government.

Sabando cited the increased allocation of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines from the national government to the city, as well as vaccine donations to the city from the private sector.

“This can also be predicated as a ripple effect. Every month, during the past few months, the mayor has been vocal and persistent in trying to request for more vaccine allocations for Iloilo City. Since this is all unprecedented, when the 600,00 doses were secured for AstraZeneca alone, it wasn’t really thought of to be allocated that fast,” Sabando said.

Booster, shots for minors

Treñas also reiterated his call for booster shots to be given to medical frontliners and their families, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities who already received their COVID-19 vaccines earlier this year.

The mayor sent a letter to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on Monday, October 17, asking for approval of his proposal.

He first sent a letter to the IATF requesting for the approval of booster shots on September 3, and followed-up on the request via another letter dated September 9.

Treñas also reiterated his call to allow a pilot run of the vaccination of minors aged 12 to 17. He previously told Rappler that they aimed to start this on October 19.

He said that the city was ready to vaccinate minors and provide booster shots to priority sectors, and may even start with these inoculations as soon as the IATF gives the green light. 

The City Public Information Office told Rappler on Wednesday, October 20 that only 5,738 minors aged 12 to 17 have pre-registered. Treñas previously stated that around 10,000 minors had pre-registered.

The city has AstraZeneca vaccines in stock for the booster shots, as well as Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for the minors. The latter vaccine brands were the only ones already given emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.

“We are ready. We have pre-registered [the minors], and we have the vaccines for them. We have Pfizer and Moderna. We have [AstraZeneca], and we are also ready to use that,” Treñas said. – Rappler.com

Joseph B.A. Marzan is a Visayas-based journalist and an awardee of the Aries Rufo Journalism Felowship.