The city government said the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the city will drastically reduce as the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) has tightened the implementation of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) protocols.
Mayor Sara Duterte on Thursday said the control measures announced by the DCPO will help limit the movement of people from going outside of their homes.
“Hopefully, this new control (measure) will reduce the number of people in our streets,” she said.
Starting April 18, the DCPO will be enforcing a new odd-even schedule system for the use of the food and medicine (FM) passes as part of the stricter implementation of the ECQ that was extended until April 26.
FM pass holders whose pass numbers start with odd numbers are only allowed to go outside of their residences on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; while those with even numbers will only be allowed to go out on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
“You can only use the FM passes on certain days. . . You are not allowed to go out on Sundays even if you have FM pass,” mayor Duterte added, noting that only those who are working in the establishments given exemption in the duration of the ECQ are allowed to go out on Sunday.
“Why would you still go out on a Sunday, you already have three days in a week allowed for you to go out to buy your food?” she added.
The mayor also reminded the public of the likelihood of being infected by COVID-19 if they continue to go outside on unessential matters, pointing out that there are still individuals who use their FM pass as an excuse to go and roam around the city.
“[T]he more that you go out, the more exposure you will get and the more chances of winning COVID-19 and going to cremation,” Duterte said, stressing that the cremation is ranging from P40,000 to P50,000.
“Do not go out if you do not have P50,000 to cremate your dead body.
Because remember, if you are exposed (to COVID-19) by violating the ECQ, I (city government) will not pay for your cremation,” she added.
“I hope everybody will understand that we are the ones carrying the virus. We, who are roaming around, are spreading the virus. This is why we need to stay at home so we will not be infected. The only way to end this is to stop the transmission of the virus in our communities,” Duterte said.
