SENATOR Manny Pacquiao has asked the National Task Force Against Covid 19 and vaccination czar Carlito Galvez Jr. to initiate the rollout of more Covid-19 vaccines in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as he complained that the region has the lowest vaccination rate.

Pacquiao lamented that the BARMM has been left behind in the government’s anti-Covid vaccine rollout. He noted that other regions have already breached the 20 percent vaccination mark while BARMM is still lumbering behind with 10.06 percent, the lowest nationwide.

While he maintained that vaccination should remain voluntary, the government should address the reluctance of some people to get their vaccines by conducting localized information dissemination campaign to inform them on the importance of vaccination to protect not only their families but also their communities.

“ May mga sinasabi na marami raw sa mga taga BARMM ang ayaw magpabakuna but even if this is true, it is no excuse for the government to put them at the back of the line. Sa halip na pabayaan at iwanan na lamang sila, mas maganda na maipaliwanag sa kanila na ang bakuna ay hindi para lamang sa ikabubuti ng kanilang pamilya kundi maging ng kanilang buong komunidad,” Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao said that just like other regions, the BARMM deserves to have an equitable share in the government’s anti-Covid vaccination drive because “ they too need to be protected from Covid.” And now that there is a marked decrease in Covid infection in areas previously considered as hotspots, the time has come for the government to pay attention to areas with greater potential to be fully Covid-free.

“Huwag naman sana nating pabayaan yung mga kapatid nating mga Muslim at maging ang mga Kristiyano sa BARMM. Tinatamaan din naman ng Covid ang mga nasa BARMM. Ten percent vaccination for an entire region is really too low,” Pacquiao said.

“Besides, vaccinating areas like BARMM could allow us to secure pockets of victories in the fight of Covid. It is easier to keep areas like BARMM Covid-free especially if the people are vaccinated,” Pacquiao added.

“Kung nagawa nating makuha ang mataas na 89.08% vaccination completion sa Manila, bakit hindi sa mga probinsiya, lalo na sa Bangsamoro na napakaliit lang sa 10.06 percent ang nababakunahan sa kanila na mahigit apat na million ang kanilang population,” said Pacquiao.

He claimed that it’s impossible to achieve the government target herd immunity if the vaccine roll out in the provinces is seemingly too slow to meet the target and fulfill the immediate need of the Filipino people.

Outside NCR, no areas have completed at least 50% in community vaccination with the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) already reaching 40.92% and Calabarzon pegged at 37.66 percent since vaccine rollout started this year.

“Malaking bagay sa komunidad at sa buong bansa kung marami ang mababakunahan. Available naman ang vaccine. Dapat pagtuunan ng pansin ang mga pamamaraan para mapabilis itong makarating sa mga probinsiya at matugunan ang pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan,” added Pacquiao.

“Maraming mga negosyo ang hindi pa rin makapagbukas dahil wala pa ring katiyakan na mababakunahan ang kanilang mga workers. Limitado pa rin ang kilos ng mga tao sa probinsiya dahil hindi sapat ang vaccine na nakakarating sa kanila,” said Pacquiao.

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