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AS ACTIVE Covid-19 cases in the city of Davao continue to increase, the city government announced on Monday, October 12, that it will impose a stricter curfew and a ban on alcoholic beverages starting at noon on October 15.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio issued Executive Order (EO) 55, which enforces the curfew, the liquor ban, and the regulation of other activities in the city until December 31, 2020.
The curfew, which was lifted on August 3, will be imposed again, this time from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. the following day.
The mayor, according to the EO, will enforce a curfew in all public places every day.
However, it established exemptions on the following: all government workers who are on duty during curfew hours; all employees of offices and private establishments who enter and are absent from work within the curfew hours, this will mean including their travel to and from their residence; all doctors and veterinarians who need to work; and workers of public services companies (energy, water, internet, etc.) that carry out construction, maintenance or emergency activities.
Commercial and subsistence fishing activities are also exempt from the curfew, their vessels are subject to legal inspection by the Maritime Police, Task Force Davao, the Navy or the Coast Guard, if there is a reasonable belief that there is illegal activity or illegal materials on the boat. ; individuals attending a family member’s wake; and all medical, emergency and disaster cases.
However, the curfew will only cover individuals, but offices, establishments, places of worship and other institutions are encouraged to adjust their hours of operation accordingly.
Exempt workers will be required to present employee identification to inspectors at checkpoints during curfew hours.
Meanwhile, a liquor ban will also be imposed during curfew hours. It is forbidden to drink in public places such as roads, alleys, open spaces and other similar places every day at any time.
Duterte-Carpio formally lifted the 24-hour alcoholic beverage ban on September 21, but Ordinance 004-13 series of 2013, amending Ordinance 1627 series of 2014, or Davao’s Alcoholic Beverage Prohibition Ordinance were still in effect. vigor from 1 am to 8 am
‘Public health, public welfare’ first
Duterte-Carpio said during a radio interview that it is necessary to re-impose the curfew and regulate other activities due to the increase in Covid-19 cases.
The mayor said that based on the Covid-19 patients in the city, most of them contracted the virus from non-essential activities and movements.
“We consider it necessary to regulate those activities carried out by people who are not essential, are not within the provisions of the IATF (Inter-Institutional Working Group on Emerging Infectious Diseases) Omnibus Guidelines (We consider it necessary to regulate non-essential activities, or those outside the Omnibus Guidelines from IATF), “Duterte-Carpio said.
The regulation also responds to the recent status of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), which is exhausted due to the increase in admitted patients. Both the SPMC intensive care unit (ICU) and the ward beds allocated for Covid-19 patients are already almost fully occupied. As of October 11, the occupancy rate for ICU beds is now 84.85 percent and 84.62 percent for ward beds.
“There is a pandemic, and it is a public health problem, so there is no talk of public health and general well-being (we must prioritize public health and general well-being),” Duterte-Carpio said.
The mayor said that mass transportation will not be affected as they are also exempt from the curfew.
Business establishments are also exempt from curfew, but are encouraged to adjust their hours of operation.
“Our [new] The curfew is the curfew sa tao. Walay curfew in establishments. Therefore, make a decision based on an evaluation of an inyohang business. However, we encourage inyohang business hours not to be adjusted (we only imposed a curfew on individuals, not specifically establishments. Therefore, they must decide whether to operate beyond curfew. But we encourage them to adjust their opening hours). “Duterte-Carpio said.
With the implementation of the curfew, the Roxas Night Markets operation, which is operating from 5 pm to 11 pm since it reopened on September 12, will be reduced to two hours, from 5 pm to 7 pm starting on October 15 .
As of October 11, the city has a total of 2,363 Covid-19 cases, the highest in the entire Davao region. Active cases are 499, while 1,767 have already recovered and 97 have died.
According to the Octa Research Covid-19 monitoring report of October 6, 2020, Davao del Sur and the city of Davao are among the areas outside Luzon “where the pandemic is worsening” despite noticing a downward trend. in the new cases of Covid-19 in the Philippines.
Despite this, the mayor said she does not have any initial information from the IATF whether the city will be elevated to a stricter quarantine status because she previously said it would be “detrimental” if the city reverts to MECQ or ECQ.
The city of Davao is currently under Modified General Community Quarantine, the lowest quarantine status imposed by the IATF on a given locality.
Other regulations
The EO also states that all sari-sari shops must close during curfew and the ban on alcoholic beverages.
All videoke and karaoke on private property, meanwhile, will be prohibited from 10 pm to 5 am every day. The purok leader may request the assistance of the police at any time of the day to turn off a videoke / karaoke, if the volume of the sound has become disturbing to the neighbors of the owner of the machine / equipment.
In the case of public places and establishments that do not have a commercial permit to operate as a videokeep, karaoke or a place to sing with accompaniment, it will be prohibited to operate their equipment 24 hours a day.
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