DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 24 Nov) – Mayor Sara Duterte told the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) to review the guidelines on quarantine protocols amid the “confusion” the police personnel at checkpoints caused on the ground for misinterpreting the policies of the government.
Duterte said this after receiving complaints during her live interview over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) that enforcement of the quarantine guidelines by police personnel contradicted her executive orders and Omnibus Guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on General Community Quarantine.
“There is no confusion in the guide because executive order is clear. It seems there is an ‘error’ in implementing the guide on the ground. We would just remind our Davao City Police Office (DCPO) to read the Omnibus guide further so that when they implement, they will look for an appropriate executive order that elaborates the provision,” she said.
Col. Kirby Kraft, DCPO director, said in a text message that police will abide by the instruction of the mayor and review the quarantine guidelines to avoid lapses in the enforcement of the policies.
“We will abide by the mayor and review,” he said.
Under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ), Duterte said the IATF guidelines allow outdoor non-contact sports and other forms of exercise such as but not limited to walking, jogging, running, biking, golf, swimming, tennis, badminton, equestrian, range shooting, diving, and skateboarding.
She said the local government limited the conduct of all forms of outdoor non-contact sports to two hours as an exercise.
“We’ve implemented this a long time ago because we’ve seen that these [outdoor non-contact sports] were no longer exercises but a group-together to many people,” she said.
Duterte suggested that the legal division of the DCPO should review the Omnibus guidelines as well as executive orders of the local government and cascade the information to all its personnel.
The city reverted to a GCQ last Friday until the end of this month.
The entire city was placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine from April 4 to May 15, GCQ from May 16 until June 30, Modified GCQ last July 1 until November 19, and GCQ again until November 30.
As of November 23, Davao City reported a total of 5,881 cases, Davao de Oro with 430, Davao del Norte with 940, Davao del Sur with 648, Davao Occidental with 113, and Davao Oriental with 416.
The entire region has 2,530 in total active cases, 5,479 recoveries, and 319 deaths.
Out of the 5,881 cases in Davao City, 2,016 are active, 3,601 have recovered, and 264 have died. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)