THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) welcomes the lifting of the “no vax, no ride” scheme and calls on the government to do a massive education drive on self-care against COVID and provide free antigen test kits.

“The “no vax, no ride” is a brutal coercive policy. Educating everyone on how to do self-care against COVID-19 is the better approach to make everyone responsible in ensuring their well-being and that of their families whether vaccinated or not”, TUCP President and TUCP Partylist Rep. Raymond Mendoza said.

The labor group also supports the business group’s Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) – calling on the government to provide free self-test antigen kits to every citizen as an important component in transitioning away from alert level restrictions and lockdowns.

“Granular lockdowns and alert level restrictions doesn’t lift workers out of poverty and doesn’t help businesses out of the bankruptcy created by the health pandemic and economic crises. The government should do away with these self-defeating lockdown strategies and shift to freer mobility and activity,” TUCP Partylist Rep. Mendoza urged.

“The campaign to curb the spread of COVID-19 would be most effective if engaging and participatory, wherein the government should provide free antigen self-test kits and isolate and quarantine those positive from the general population. This is preferable rather than prohibiting community movement and restricting operations of businesses and industries. This is the key component in the transition,” Mendoza said.

“The Government should now escalate the education campaign on self-care against COVID-19 and provide for free self-test kits particularly to workers and their families because the buying power of workers’ daily wages is getting smaller every day. And many unemployed and underemployed understandably need to buy food for their family’s needs rather than purchase test kits,” said Mendoza.

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Jun I. Legaspi