A total of 300 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) at the Angeles City District Jail who are residents of Mabalacat town were inoculated against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on Friday.

The Mabalacat City Covid-19 Response Integrated System (CRIS) conducted an on-site visit in the facility upon the instruction of Mayor Crisostomo Garbo to heed the call of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Angeles to vaccinate detainees.

Citing high-risk and vulnerability of infection inside the facility, the city mayor instructed City Covid-19 Response czar, Dr. Jose Antonio Rivera, to immediately extend their immunization program to the PDLs.

“Ang ating mga kababayan na nasa piitan ay hindi dapat ituring na second class citizen pagdating sa usapin ng kalusugan lalo na ngayong tayo ay nasa panahon ng pandemya (Our province mates who are in jail should not be treated as second class citizens in regards to health matter especially that we are in the time of pandemic),” Garbo said.

“Ang inisyatiba nating ito ay pagpapakita ng ating pagkalinga sa ating mga mamamayan at pagrespeto sa kanilang buhay anuman ang kanilang naging pagkakamali sa ating lipunan (Our initiative is a demonstration of our concern to our citizens and respect to their lives whatever wrongdoings they have committed in our society),” the mayor added.

Earlier, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año assured that PDLs are included in the national vaccination program.

Based on DILG’s data, 35 percent of 122,489 PDLs across 467 BJMP detention facilities nationwide has been inoculated against the dreaded disease.

Garbo vowed to exhaust available ways to vaccinate the city’s eligible residents to achieve population protection before the year ends. (PNA)