Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 until today, civil society organizations (CSOs) work at the frontlines to deliver much-needed services to communities. 

These services include food and relief operations; personal protective equipment donations; fundraising; and dissemination of information on COVID-19 to communities.  CSOs promote and offer psycho-social and mental health services to frontline health care workers, LGU personnel, and vulnerable and at-risk groups. Cooperatives extend immediate support to their members who lost their income. Community-based people’s organizations systematically distribute to their neighbors food packs and hygiene kits donated by other CSOs to their community.  

Despite the huge limitations related to health protocols and community quarantines, we continue to respond to the needs of the communities we serve. The COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over and there is an urgent need for us to be vaccinated. 

We, therefore, welcome the inclusion of CSO workers in the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) simplified A4 list of essential workers to be prioritized in the COVID-19 vaccination drive.  In this list, CSO workers can be classified as “Private employees required to physically report to work”. 

In addition, the Department of Health’s “A4 Priority Group Re-Resbakuna Na!” [A4 Priority Group will be vaccinated now!] Information Drive explains that  the A4 Priority Group “consists of workers from private and public government sectors and informal sectors who are: a) physically reporting to the workplace; or b) deployed or assigned for fieldwork.” 

This description certainly captures the nature of the work of CSOs: the various programs and projects that need to be implemented urgently, face-to-face, to help local economies recover, to enhance community wellbeing, to build capacities of basic sector leaders, and to prepare closely with local government units (LGUs) for disaster response. We need to be vaccinated soonest because, together with the fieldwork, it is our duty of care to protect our staff from being exposed to COVID-19 and transmitting the virus to communities. This means not only wearing face masks/face shields and following physical distancing but being vaccinated too. 

Documents as proof that one is part of the A4 priority group need to be presented at the vaccination sites. These can be any one of the following: Company ID, contracts or permits, certificate of eligibility, and other proof of occupation.

The first phase of the rollout to the A4 group covers the entire NCR, Bulacan, Pampanga, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao.

International organizations such as The Asia Foundation points out that CSOs are “clearly making an important contribution to delivering basic supplies, essential services, and vital information to citizens.” The International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) highlights the importance of CSOs in the delivery of principled and humanitarian assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We witness the needs. We implement the majority of projects. We are challenged today, probably more than ever, to ensure we remain able to stay and deliver across the system.”

We CSOs, therefore, call on LGU officials to prioritize CSO workers as part of the A4 Priority Group. They shall be identified as frontline personnel and providers of humanitarian assistance and social services during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Achieving this will enable us to urgently, systematically, and safely scale up our economic and social development work and humanitarian action in the communities.