DILG “carrot, stick policy” on indigents ‘NO VAX, NO 4Ps’ is against the law – Chiz says

Former Senator and currently Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) could be sued for its plan not to provide cash assistance to several million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) if they do not get vaccinated.

The latest DILG plan is to disallow cash grants to indigents under 4Ps if they refuse to get vaccinated.

It is a modified form of “carrot- stick approach”, a strategy the government use on rewarding (carrot) and punishing (stick) citizens.

Instead of using the conditional cash grants made to help the poor, Escudero said the government should only provide incentives to entice 4Ps beneficaries to join the country’s vaccination program.

“They deserve the program (4Ps) because there is a law about it,” said Escudero in his opposition to DILG’s proposal.

“If the DILG’s plan continues, there will be legal issues,” Escudero said in an interview with the ANC’s “Headstart.”

4Ps is a major government anti -poverty program implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development that benefits nearly 4.2 million Filipinos.

The veteran senator explained that Emergency Use Authorization is only the Food and Drug Administration’s permission for coronavirus vaccines, so it cannot be mandated to citizens.