By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA
MANILA — Senatorial bet Pia Cayetano has called on parents to vaccinate their children amid the measles outbreak in the country to give them protection against potentially fatal but preventable diseases.
Cayetano, running under the Nacionalista Party (NP) and Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), was the principal author and sponsor of the Mandatory Infants and Children Immunization Act (Republic Act No. 10152) when she was senator.
“‘Yan ay napakaseryosong bagay. Malapit ‘yan sa puso ko dahil ho ako ang may-akda ng Mandatory Immunization, isa sa unang batas ko noong ako ho’y pumasok sa Senado (That is very important and it’s close to my heart because I was the author of the mandatory immunization, one of the laws crafted when I entered the Senate),” Cayetano said as she officially started her campaign during the HNP kickoff rally in Pampanga on Tuesday.
“Ginawa ko ho ‘yun dahil napakahalaga na ang mga anak natin, may proteksyon laban sa mga sakit (It is important that our children have protection from diseases),” she added.
The Department of Health has declared a measles outbreak in the National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Western and Central Visayas. In Central Luzon alone, 481 cases of measles were recorded, with three deaths.
Cayetano said there is now a decline in people’s confidence in vaccines, following the controversy involving the now-aborted Dengvaxia program.
She vowed to use the campaign period for the mid-term elections as an opportunity to restore Filipino families’ trust in the government’s immunization program.
