President Rodrigo Duterte stated in his Talk to the People aired last Monday that the Muslim communities have the highest percentage of vaccine hesitancy in the entire Mindanao. 

According to Duterte, he assumes that their vaccine hesitancy is due to their religious belief. “I am not confident about their taking—the allowing the vaccines into their bodies because I think it’s something more of religious belief,” he said. “Pero iyan ang tingin ko. Sa Mindanao ayaw talaga. Duterte said. 

He added that 100 passengers bound for Zamboanga were stranded because of the no vax, no ride policy of the government. 

Moreover, the Department of Transportation and the Philippine Ports Authority already assisted the unvaccinated passengers to return to their homes. 

Among the 17 regions nationwide, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said that the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has the lowest vaccination rate with only 25.22% or 769,604 individuals. 

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