Monday, June 7, 2021

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Confusion on speed limit causes citation ticket issuance

Posted: 07 Jun 2021 06:09 AM PDT

A TRAFFIC official apologized to motorists who were mistakenly issued citation tickets along the Diversion Road in Davao City after confusions on the current speed limit along the area.

"Mangayo ko'g pasaylo, mangayo kog sorry kung naay nga nanga-hassle kagahapon (I would like to apologize for the inconveniences our motorists experienced yesterday [June 6]," Traffic Enforcement Unit Lieutenant Colonel Nolan Raquid said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday, June 7.

Raquid said he already ordered the revocation of the ticket issued along Orange Grove to Matina Pangi, which stemmed from confusions in the implementation of the speed limit along the area.

"Di na ninyo kinahanglan muadto sa [City] Treasurer's Office para bayaran na kay ako mismo mag-request para i-revoke katong tanang nadakpan (They do not need to go to the Treasurer's Office to pay their fines because I will personally request to revoke the tickets of those running) below 66 kilometers per hour," he said.

Raquid said they based the implementation of the speed limit in the area on the traffic signage placed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) showing 30 kilometers per hour (kph).

However, according to Executive Order 39 series of 2013 signed by then mayor, now President Rodrigo Duterte, the area's speed limit is still at 60 kph.

"Ang atoa na lang siguro hunahunaon na (I think we should, at least, think that) those road signs were erected for a purpose," he said.

City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) Head Dionisio Abude said in a separate interview that he will request that the area's speed limit be amended through an executive order.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, however, said in her regular radio interview that this measure is being proposed to be converted into an ordinance.

Motorists who were given the ticket took to social media to air their confusion and disappointment.

Facebook user Jan Jan said he was surprised after he was flagged down by enforcers.

"Sa kadugay-dugay nako og byahe diria nga lugar, nakurat ko human gipara ko ug giingnan nga 30 [kph] daw ang speed limit. Ay nabuang na! Ingon sa balaod, 60 ako pagkahibawo (I have been driving in these area for years, and I was surprised after I was flagged dow. The enforcer told me that the speed limit is 30 kph. According to the EO, the area's speed limit is at 60 kph)," Jan Jan said in his Facebook post.

EO 39 was signed to limit the speed of vehicles running in Davao City from 30 kph to 60 kph due to the increase in traffic incidents on the highways and roads caused by reckless driving.

According to the EO, the downtown area starting from J.P. Laurel, Buhangin Crossing-Milan, and Carlos P. Garcia Highway to Bolton/Generoso Bridge, its speed limit is 30 kph.

Motorists from Ulas to Bolton/Generoso Bridge, Ma-a Road Diversion to McArthur Highway, and Panacan Crossing to J.P. Laurel Avenue are only allowed to drive up to 40 kph, while those driving along the highway in Sirawan, Lasang, Calinan, and C.P. Garcia are allowed only up to 60 kph.

Davao City Police Office spokesperson Captain Rose Aguilar said they had deployed their personnel to ensure the observance of the speed limit in these areas after they have been considered as "accident-prone" areas due to the number of recorded vehicular accidents.

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Penalty vs mandatory swabbing violators eyed

Posted: 07 Jun 2021 06:08 AM PDT

THE Davao City Covid-19 Task Force is proposing to penalize individuals who will not submit themselves for testing.

Davao City Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Marjorie Culas said in a virtual presser that the Covid-19 Task Force passed a resolution to the 19th City Council to enact an ordinance penalizing violators of the mandatory swabbing.

This is an accordance to Executive Order (EO) 20, "An Order Providing for Mandatory Swabbing of All F1, F2, And F3 Contacts of an RT-PCR [Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction] Confirmed Positive Case of Covid-19 In Davao City."

According to the EO, F1 contacts are those first-generation contacts of an RT-PCR confirmed Covid-19 positive case, while F2 contacts are those second-generation contacts of an RT-PCR confirmed Covid-19 positive case (close contacts of F1), and F3 contacts are those third-generation contacts of an RT-PCR confirmed Covid-19 positive case (close contacts of F2).

The EO states that all F1 are required to undergo home isolation while waiting for their result, while F2 and F3 can go back to their work while waiting for their result. But they are still advised to undergo home isolation, if possible.

Culas said some F1 contacts defy this order, while some F2 and F3 contacts refused to be swabbed.

She said some of the contact tracers experienced that some index cases will not disclose their close contacts.

Some of the close contacts turn off their phone while some do not respond to their phone calls, the health official said.

This is also similar to what they experience to second and third generation (F2 and F3) contacts.

Culas said there is already an initial meeting with the city councilors and other lead agencies to discuss the proposed ordinance.

"I hope it will come out soon para mabigyan natin ng leksyon 'tong mga violators kasi mahirap, marami nang natatamaan, at nadadamay (to serve as a warning to violators because many people are affected) because of this uncooperative people who are carriers of the virus," she said during the Department of Health-Davao Region (DOH-Davao) virtual presser on Monday, June 7.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said she will await the ordinance once it will be approved on final reading.

The mayor admitted that only an ordinance can impose a penalty.

Duterte-Carpio admitted that they are still encountering the same challenges in its Covid-19 response more than a year since the pandemic.

The mayor also said that some patients are hard to find as they do not "truthfully" provide their accurate contact details and address.

"Duna pud tay pasyente nga di na makita. Lahi ang address, lahi ang contact number (We have some patients that are nowhere to be found. The address and contact number are different), and when you access the address and contact number, wala na didto ang tao (they are no longer there)," Duterte-Carpio said.

The mayor, meanwhile, reminded those who tested positive despite having been completely vaccinated that they can still get infected with Covid-19. Although they won't be experiencing severe and critical conditions, they can still experience mild conditions.

"Duna gihapo'y testing na kinahanglan buhaton bisan nabakunahan naka, especially if duna kay contact with a [Covid-19] positive case (Testing is still important despite having been vaccinated, especially if you have a close contact with Covid-19 positive individual)," she said.

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403 BPO firm workers test positive for coronavirus

Posted: 07 Jun 2021 06:05 AM PDT

A BUSINESS process outsourcing (BPO) company has been placed under lockdown after 403 of its employees tested positive for Sars-CoV-2, which causes the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Davao City Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Marjorie Culas said in a virtual presser Monday morning, June 7, 2021, that a certain BPO company has 403 positive cases after some 1,000 employees were swabbed during a surveillance swabbing.

Culas did not name the BPO firm nor further elaborate the status and condition of the confirmed patients.

Andy, not his real name, reached out to SunStar Davao after his BPO company is also experiencing a surge.

He said most of the employees are first generation (F1), second generation (F2), and third generation (F3) contacts.

Andy said most of them, including their supervisors, are F1 contacts supposed to undergo quarantine while waiting for their swab results, as mentioned in Executive Order (EO) 20.

"Some of our supervisors were supposed to be on medical leave. However, some of the leaders were asking them to get 'fit to work certifications' so that they can have them sign a waiver to continue working even after being tagged as F1," he said in an online interview.

"The fact that they were asking those supervisors to get out from their respective houses and go to certain establishments like a hospital is clearly a violation of the said EO," he added.

Andy also said some leaders issued directives to their members "not to cooperate/communicate with the CHO or contact tracers because they are a scam."

"They instructed some employees not to disclose information sa mga tao nga duna silay nakadikit nga (to the people that they have) close contact kay aron di sila madamay (they won't be included in the contact tracing). They even said it's the employee's discretion to or not to disclose correct information," Andy said.

SunStar Davao raised this concern to Culas during the Department of Health (DOH)-Davao Region virtual presser.

She said some BPOs are "uncooperative" in the City Government's Covid-19 contract tracing efforts, resulting in some being placed under lockdown due to the increasing number of cases.

"The reports have reached us nga may mga uncooperative na mga companies na (that some companies are uncooperative) as they [employees] are still roaming around kahit na F1 sila," Culas said

According to EO 20, F1 contacts who even tested negative should finish their 14-day home quarantine, while F2 and F3 contacts are required to undergo swabbing although they are allowed to go back to work while waiting for their result.

But Culas said they are advised to undergo isolation. But, if they tested negative but manifest symptoms, they must still undergo isolation.

Culas said for the past 10 days, the BPOs are the mostly affected business sector in the Covid-19 transmission.

"That's why we are forced to lockdown the area kasi talagang surge na talaga (because there is a surge) within the workplace," Culas said.

As of Monday, June 7, the CHO official said 11 BPOs have active cases.

Meanwhile, a total of 26 establishments are placed under lockdown for the past seven days. These include government offices, stores, banks, food and non-food, and churches.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Covid-19 Work Accident and Illness Report (WAIR) from January to May this year, a total of 41 cases out of the 16 BPOs were reported.

Some BPO firms were not compliant with the workplace prevention control measures, including no signages of "one-way direction" in walkways.

DOLE Regional Director Ofelia Domingo said establishments are obliged to submit their reports on the Covid-19 situations of their employees.

But Domingo said they have no legal authority to sanction establishments, based on the joint Dole-Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) guidelines on workplaces.

Domingo said it is only the local government who can sanction establishments that are non-compliant with the health protocols, as they are the ones given "police power" during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Sila 'yung merong jurisdiction, or they are the ones who can impose sanction doon sa mga companies na nag-vaviolate," she said.

"Because we are in a pandemic, ang binigyan ng jurisdiction ng ating government to impose sanctions is the local government unit," she added.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, meanwhile, said the incident should serve as a "lesson" to offices and establishments to avoid hiding their Covid-19 situation and coordinate with CHO to assist them.

"Masarado gyud ilang establishment kung ilang tagu-taguon ang mga positive cases nga gapanghitabo sa ilaha (Their establishments will be closed if they keep mum on the current cases in their area)," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster.

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Davao City only has 2 weeks to ‘flatten curve’

Posted: 07 Jun 2021 06:03 AM PDT

DAVAO City has only two weeks to "flatten the curve," Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said after the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) granted the city's request to be placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) for only 16 days.

The IATF on Thursday, June 3, 2021, approved the City's request to be placed under MECQ from June 5 to 20, 10 days short of the city's initial appeal, which was from June 5 until June 30.

Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on Monday, June 7, that the IATF did not mention the reason why the request period was shortened.

"Wala naghatag og reason ang IATF ngano hangtod June 20 lang. But kung ako patagnaon kung ngano (The IATF did not specify their reason why they only approved the MECQ until June 20. But if I were to guess), it's [because] they wanted us to flatten the curve in two weeks only," the mayor said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

The mayor admitted that it would take two to three weeks to see the effect of the MECQ on managing the Covid-19 cases in the city.

The decision for the possible extension will still depend on the Covid-19 cases in the city after June 20.

When asked if it the two-week MECQ will be enough, she said, "Enough na siya nga time kung musunod tanang tao sa kinahanglan nato buhaton nga (It is enough time if people will abide by the protocols to) 'stay home', and come out only if you need to work, or do business, and kung magpabakuna mo (if you will get the Covid-19 vaccine)."

The City Government said it requested the national IATF to elevate the city to a higher quarantine status "to allow a circuit breaker in the surge of patients inside hospitals."

Salient points of the guidelines include limiting the movement of all persons to accessing goods and establishments and for work in such establishments (Sec. 3, IATF Omnibus Guidelines dated May 20, 2021).

It also states that any person below 18 years old and over 65 years of age, persons with comorbidities and pregnant women shall be required to stay at home, except for obtaining essential goods and services (Sec. 3, IATF Omnibus Guidelines dated May 20, 2021).

Meanwhile, according to the Department of Trade and Industry memorandum, pick-up and delivery services are still in full operation, while 10 percent operational capacity for indoor dining and 50 percent for outdoor dining are only allowed.

The City Government has called on those affected by MECQ zero operational capacity to coordinate with the Trabaho Dabawenyo employment assistance at the City Mayor's Office Special Project Office at Magsaysay Park.

The City added that all public transportation shall be permitted to operate.

"Ang (The proposed) MECQ nato was a product of the discussions of the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force and sa mga nakita nato sa occupancy sa atong mga (based on the occupancy of our) TTMFs [temporary treatment and monitoring facilities] and hospitals," she said, adding that the City is avoiding the possible overwhelming of the health care system.

In its latest monitoring report, the Octa Research Group said Davao is one of the Mindanao cities considered an area of concern, with 206 new cases for May 31 to June 6, 2021.

Its growth rate is 54 percent, while its average daily attack rate (ADAR) is 11.34 percent.

Department of Health (DOH)-Davao Director Annabelle Yumang said they have yet to check the projection of Octa, but she said it is evident that there is a surge, and that there is a need to curb the transmission.

As of June 6, Davao City has a total of 18,288 confirmed Covid-19 cases, wherein 2,460 are active cases, 15,049 have recovered, and 779 have died. (With reports from PNA)

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