By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Employees of the municipal government of Toboso in Negros Occidental are required to submit a vaccination card or a negative RT-PCR test result for work effective December 16, Mayor Richard Jaojoco announced on his social media account yesterday.

Jaojoco said employees who won’t follow his directive will be penalized in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the resolution released by the National Inter-Agency Task Force.

The mayor added that a “no work, no pay” policy will be enforced for job order (JO) employees, which means if they are unvaccinated they will be marked absent for every day that they are unable to show a negative RT-PCR test result or a vaccination card

“By January 2022 JO employees who remain unvaccinated will also not be renewed,” the mayor said.

Previously, Cadiz City and Bago City governments also released their respective memorandums requiring all city government employees and consultants to show a vaccination card.

In Cadiz City, unvaccinated city government employees are required to show a negative RT-PCR or rapid antigen test result every week at their own expense.

Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante said 12 city government employees refused to get vaccinated, however, they all produced a medical certificate from their respective personal physicians who have explained they cannot get the COVID-19 vaccine due to their existing health problems.

Because of this, Escalante said he will place all 12 employees on a “work-from-home” arrangement instead if they cannot get the vaccine./DGB, WDJ