Place that old school signage again: No loitering.
Students in private and public institutions holding classes through online home learning modalities are reminded not to move about for no reason.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio made this plea to the regional office of the Department of Education (DepEd 11), as well as all colleges and universities in the city to control the movements of students during class hours.
“Manawagan ta sa DepEd, ang inyong mga estudyante nagsuroy-suroy. Daghan kaayo ko ug nakita nga mga senior high school, college looking students nag-gimik. Please do something about your attendance sa klase or modules sa mga estudyante especially during class hours,” she said in a live broadcast on Monday.
Mayor Sara said it is not the job of the city government of Davao to go after these students.
“Ayaw na ninyo i-expect nga kami pa sa city government ang mag gukod-gukod anang mga bataa, nga kanang mga bata supposedly handled by DepEd, college schools, or universities,” she added.
The mayor cited one area in Buhangin where majority of those apprehended for loitering and violating quarantine guidelines are minors and students.
“Mga estudyante nga wala sa balay, nag suroy-suroy sila,” she said.
She has called out the schools to make sure that the students are inside their homes especially class hours.
Under Section 15 of Executive Order (EO) No. 57 Series of 2020 which is an order regulating mass gatherings and prohibiting non-essential travel within Davao City released on Monday, tasked all DepEd schools (private and public) and class advisers to create a regular schedule of compliance check of students and their performance tasks according to their modules.
The checking must be announced and conducted at random times from Monday to Friday within the hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. All students found to be missing inside their residences or not within three meters of their residences during school hours shall receive an equivalent grade reduction in their subjects.
All barangay tanods are required to take note of the date, time and names of the students who are more than three meters away from their residences from Monday to Friday within the hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and submit the list to the school principal or head for the requisite grade reduction.
The EO emphasized under Section 17 that all travel inside Davao City shall only be for accessing goods and essential services while events and activities for leisure, entertainment, sports, gaming, and amusement shall be prohibited.
The mayor said there is a need to regulate mass gatherings and non-essential travels as these are the two top reasons for the fast spreading and increase of transmission of the virus in Davao City.
This is in relation to the constant surging of cases of Covid-19 wherein Davao City has topped not only among provinces in Davao Region but throughout the country as well.
As of October 25, 2020 Davao City posted a total of 837 active cases. As of Oct. 26, 2020, the city has a total of 3,228 Covid-19 cases; 2,251 recoveries; and 140 deaths.
“Very obvious ang cases from 200 to 800 cases in about a month. Waitlist na ang mga pasyente sa Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC),” the mayor said.
She said with such a number of positive cases, each patient can infect several people. She added that with 837 active cases, the city is now looking for thousands who might be infected with the virus.
