Company: Cong. Camille Villar, Lone District of Las Pinas
Company Description: Camille Villar is the elected representative of the Lone District of Las Piñas City on her second term. She is known for championing the cause of micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs), empowerment of women, and protection of kids with special needs. She also worked for employment generation, community livelihood programs, development of pioneering industries, among others.
Nomination Category: COVID-19 Response Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Government Hero of the Year
 Nomination Title: Cong. Camille Villar
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 180 words used.
The initiative was acknowledged by not only the country’s top media networks, but even international ones like Al Jazeera and CNBC:
- The project addressed at some point the challenges faced by the government in convincing Filipinos to get inoculated against COVID-19 as shown in this TV news clip by ABS-CBN.* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQrqxOf5TsQ
- Rep. Villar was interviewed in a radio show where she explained how the project can educate the public on getting vaccinated, and further encourage them to get the vaccine. SWS survey three out of 10 Filipinos were then reluctant to get the vaccine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv6pkCTFPE4
- Video clip* shows the interview of the winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA18X0wWsiA
- Al Jazeera reported how Las Piñas and other local government units devised strategies to push for the vaccination drive https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/14/win-a-cow-avoid-covid-philippines-tempts-vaccine-hesitant
- CNBC news featured countries which used perks to lure local residents in getting vaccinated against COVID-19 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/10/vaccine-incentives-asia-countries-give-away-land-gold-cattle-homes.html
- Video by CNN Philippines showed the grand winner for the “Bahay sa Bakuna” contest https://www.cnnphilippines.com/lifestyle/2021/12/13/Las-Pinas-May-Bahay-sa-Bakuna-incentive-program-names-house-and-lot-winner.html
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the nominee's admirable work, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions, provide them in the appropriate spaces below:
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an interesting challenge: vaccine acceptance. Even in the face of major health and mobility concerns, the rate at which Filipinos were getting vaccinated was slow, especially in the context of working towards the soonest return to normalcy as a key objective.
This is when Rep. Camille Villar, a second-term representative of the lone district of Las Piñas City, Philippines, and Deputy House Speaker for the 18th Congress of the Philippines, launched May Bahay Sa Bakuna (There is a home with the vaccine), a unique initiative that provided for a major incentive for Las Piñas constituents to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
From July 15 to November 15 of 2021, May Bahay Sa Bakuna awarded ten (10) winners secondary incentives—Php 5,000 worth of groceries—upon proof that they received the required doses of the vaccine. The major incentives, two motorcycle units and a brand new house valued at about USD 40,000 were raffled off during the grand draw in December of the same year.
Over 250,000 thousand entries were sent in, with Mrs. Otelia Soriano, a housewife whose husband works as a tricycle driver, winning the major prize. At the culmination of the program in December, more than a million shots were administered in Las Piñas—with 466,984 fully vaccinated and some 529,000 already got their first dose.
- Describe for the judges the individual you are nominating and why you believe their response to the COVID-19 pandemic is worthy of international recognition (up to 350 words):
Total 161 words used.
May Bahay Sa Bakuna operated with a simple metric—to hasten the vaccination of Las Piñas constituents. With the Las Piñas population at 606,293—4.5 percent of the total population of the Philippines’ National Capital Region—the city and congressional district ranked second among 17 local government units in Metro Manila, with a vaccine utilization rate of 95.74 percent.
This was a program that also effectively communicated Rep. Villar’s belief that the vaccine was the most viable solution to fighting the many challenges of the pandemic and amplified the message of the Philippine government to get the vaccine at the soonest instance. This unique campaign, funded personally by Rep. Villar, was a resounding success, as evidenced by a dramatically increased utilization rate for the vaccine. But more than that, it was a campaign to show the world that we should find ways to convince the most hesitant that the vaccine can only bring about the total healing of communities and countries.
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