Gordon urges gov’t to create more ‘decent’ system for fully vaccinated Filipinos

"Why are we making people jump hoops?"

Senator Richard Gordon on Wednesday expressed this frustration after receiving a report that a fully vaccinated Filipino is being asked to go through certifications before being able to leave the country.

"I am trying to verify a text sent to me by my wife from one of my friends. She has been vaccinated twice—listen to this, and I deplore this—vaccinated twice na yung Filipino, lalabas siya, kailangang kumuha pa rin siya ng certification from DICT or the city health officer bago siya makalabas," said Gordon during a press conference of the Philippine Red Cross, which he also chairs.

[The Filipino has already been already vaccinated twice, but to leave the country she needs to get a certification from the Department of the Information and Technology or the city health officer.]

"Kung na-vaccinate ka, dapat mahigpit yan.  Dapat sa Immigration kapag nagpakita ng vaccination certificate, yung computer natin, kung na-submit natin lahat nung mga na-vaccinate, titignan lang doon kung totoong na-vaccinate," the senator added.

[It should be strict. It should be that at Immigration, when the person shows their vaccination certificate, the computer—if we have submitted all the names of those who have been vaccinated—should be able to checkif they have been truly vaccinated.]

Gordon also called the incident "sad and almost inhuman."

"They want to go back to their jobs, hirap na nga sila, separated na sila sa pamilya nila [they are struggling, they are separated from their families]," Gordon pointed out.

"I suggest they remove that right away and replace it with a more decent system where we don't make people suffer," he added.

Meanwhile, Gordon said he also supports the government's new policy for fully vaccinated arriving Filipino travelers, which reduced their quarantine period from 10 days to seven days. This will take effect on Thursday, July 1.

Previously, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said this shortened quarantine period will cover those coming from "green" or low-risk countries and those countries with a trustworthy process in issuing certificates of vaccination.

An individual is fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of a two-dose vaccine or a shot of a single-dose vaccine.

'Vaccination cards should suffice'

In addition, Gordon took issue with the following guidelines from the Inter Agency Task Force:

Fully vaccinated individuals shall carry the following as proof of their vaccination status:

(i.) Those fully vaccinated in the Philippines must carry their vaccination card which should be verified prior to their departure by a certification issued through the Certificate of Vaccination Record Portal of the Department of Information and Communications Technology or the City Health Officer of the local government unit which administered the full vaccination; or

(ii.) Those fully vaccinated in countries/jurisdictions outside the Philippines must carry their official documentation of full vaccination validated through the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO), or present their International Certificate of Vaccination, whichever is applicable.

(iii.) The aforementioned documents must be presented to the dedicated Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) representative for re-verification at the Department of Transportation One-Stop-Shop (OSS) upon arrival in the Philippines.

Vaccination cards should already suffice as proof, Gordon said.

“Imagine having to go through two more agencies when the government is already burdened with too many records and processes in relation to COVID," the senator said. — BM, GMA News