Unvaccinated people against COVID-19 are prohibited from accessing public transportation, according to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, who said on Wednesday that there is a need to apologize to the public owing to a lack of awareness about the policy.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Bello said, “I think there’s a reason for us to apologize to the people for that kasi kailangan pa na [we need] massive awareness campaign regarding this policy,” as he told Secretary Karlo [Nograles].

The personnel is excluded from the “no vaccination, no ride” policy, according to Bello, because they provide important services.

During a video of a partially vaccinated worker who became emotional after being denied access to public transit, the correction was given. Bello stated that he had watched the video.

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Workers are not exempt from the policy, he noted, and the program’s implementers may have simply forgotten about it.

According to the Labor Secretary, “quite clear na may mga implementers… in their eagerness to safeguard the public, eh nakalimutan nila exempted ‘yung ating mga workers.”