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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider Have a heart, Art!

Have a heart, Art!

Published Jan 20, 2022 12:05 am

MEDIUM RARE

Jullie Y. Daza

Transportation Secretary Art Tugade may be one of the most productive members of the Duterte cabinet, but does he have a heart?

DOTr’s “no vax, no ride” rule is hurting more people than the most punitive policies ever dreamed up by this government. Not only is it unconstitutional, as pointed out by lawyers, it’s also painfully anti-poor. How many percent of the urban population can afford to take a taxi or drive their own car? If they could, why would they walk for miles in the heat, line up and wait for a ride; why would they set aside four to five hours of their daily lives to transport themselves to and from work?

Secretary Tugade is in the logistics business, which is oriented around organization, efficiency, and moving goods and services. Transportation, on the other hand, involves moving human beings conveniently and, dare one say, comfortably. If Sec Art had seen Diane, a young lady who could not help crying when she was refused a ride on the first day of NV-NR for not being fully vaccinated – her card showed she had had only one dose – would he have felt bad for her?

Diane was one of more than 100 “violators” reported by TV but her tender tears caught the eye of another Duterte cabinet man, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello, who on Day 2 quickly announced that the rule exempts “manggagawa” which I take to mean workers. But which types of workers? Under a National Task Force that splits hairs and categorizes by numbers and letters of the alphabet, how far does manggagawa go? White collar, blue collar? Civil servants? Professionals such as accountants, bankers, secretaries, engineers, entertainers, artists and other creatives, etc.?

The DOTr directive exempts those with medical conditions, essential workers (isn’t a janitor as essential in the lab as a technician?), and the unvaccinated on their way to buy food and medicines, so on and so forth. But as the Labor secretary pointed out, it was wrong to stop Diane from taking her ride. Tell that to the marines. True, she had only one dose, but was it her fault that her second dose won’t be due until next month?
What next? Proof of a booster shot?

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