MAYOR Sara Duterte admitted on Monday a city government employee was behind the collection of vaccination fees even as she warned the person and others involved in the scheme that what they were doing was a violation of the law..
During her weekly program over Davao City Disaster Radio, the mayor reiterated that vaccination is free so no one should collect fees.
Her statement came after reports reached her office about someone collecting P120 from those who wanted to get vaccinated.
She said based on the report, which she immediately investigated, the amount was for snacks of those implementing the vaccination program.
“We found out nga diri sya sa city government side ang problema. We reminded ang city government employees nga bawal na mangayo og kwarta sa mga tawo because that is graft and corruption And wala pud gyud tay ingon ana nga policy nga kung magbakuna, mangolekta ta og pamainit or pang merienda bawal na sya sa atoa,” she explained.
She said a city government employee is never allowed to collect any amount for the vaccination program.
Aside from being a violation of the law, collecting any amount of money for the program may deter its implementation, she warned..
“Wala sila kasabot nga maski gamay nga kwarta na sya bawal na sya nga mangayo ka o mudawat ka. It becomes a deterrent sa mga tawo na dili nalang magpabakuna tungod kinahanglan sya magbayad og P120 when in fact wala jud na syay bayad ang pagbakuna. Libre na courtesy of the government,” she added.
This developed as the city government has inoculated about 5,000 market vendors as it has intensified the implementation of the program.
“Nabuhat nato ang pilot nato sa Mintal Public Market. Ang (The) next natong target is the Bankerohan Public Market,” she added.
