Employees of private establishments and banks in Davao City want inclusion to the free surveillance reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing.
Dr. Ashley Lopez, acting head of the City Health Office (CHO) and focal person of Davao City Covid-19 Task Force, said including the employees of the said establishments in the surveillance swab testing after the public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers and delivery riders is still under negotiation.
“The private companies and banks naga-request to be included (swab testing) kay libre man gud,” Lopez said.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio pronounced in a live broadcast on Monday that there is already a list of sectors and groups to be included in the surveillance swab testing.
“Naa na’y listahan sa mga lain sectors ug grupo nga i-undergo sa surveillance swab testing. It is with our focal person of Covid-19 as ways forward for surveillance,” the mayor said.
Mayor Sara has recommended for the inclusion of the Muslim community in Davao City, which is currently celebrating the Ramadan, as ways forward for surveillance.
“Nag-suggest ko nga kining atoang mga Muslim communities, mga two weeks to three weeks in their celebration of Ramadam, because usually sa Ramadan naay pag-ampo ug ang Covid-19 ganahan kaayo na sila sa mga lugar diin daghan tao nga nagatapok,” she said.
The drive-through surveillance swab testing for PUV drivers, courier service, and food delivery drivers is ongoing at the Crocodile Park along Ma-a, Diversion Road.
The surveillance RT-PCR testing, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. every Monday to Saturday and will run until May 8, 2021, is supported by the mayor’s Executive Order (E.O.) 22, known as “An Order Providing for Heightened Surveillance and Response of Covid-19 Cases in Public Ground Transport and Delivery Services in Davao City”, that was signed on April 22, 2021.
“It’s not mandatory, it’s voluntary. Dili sya reasonable ang no-test, no-drive. I don’t know about the LTFRB. Pero sa city government, its voluntary,” the mayor said.
Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Board 11 (LTFRB 11), has issued Office Circular No. 2021-04 on April 20, 2021 requiring all PUV drivers operating in Davao City to strictly comply with the swab drive-thru program of the city government of Davao.
In the memo of LTFRB 11 officer-in-charge Mizarah Arraz states that “Pursuant to the mandate of this Office in the regulation of land-based public transportation, and to safeguard the welfare and interests of the commuting public, all PUV drivers operating within the City of Davao are hereby required to submit themselves to the Swab Drive-Thru Program of the City Government of Davao, and to further comply with the necessary requisites and protocols relative thereto.”
