The city government of Davao has lifted the implementation of a rule that requires arriving air passengers to submit a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result at the Davao International Airport (DIA).
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has ordered putting on hold the said requirement after Davao City was placed under alert level 2 classification.
“Nag-discuss nami ganiha sa nagsulat sa ordinansa and ingon ko sa iyaha we put on hold the implementation of the ordinance in view of the alert level status nato,” Mayor Sara said.
The city government released Executive Order No. 66 Series of 2021 or an order providing for the removal of the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) result requirement for travelers entering Davao City via land, sea, and air domestic and international following the decrease in the number of cases reported and the active vaccination rollout within Davao City.
Section 1 of the EO stated that all travelers entering Davao city by land and all arriving domestic travelers by sea and air shall no longer required to present their 24-72 hours negative RT-PCR test results. No document shall be required also for entry into Davao City, except for security checks that may be required by the AFP and PNP personnel for the purposes of anti-crime, anti- illegal drugs, and anti-terrorism operations.
Section 2 mandates all passengers by international travel arriving in Davao City, including those international passengers arriving through connecting domestic flights to comply with the requirements and guidelines provided by the Inter-Agency task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID).
The order will take effect from 12:01 a.m. of November 16, 2021 to January 15, 2022.
In March this year, the city government of Davao has implemented City Ordinance No. 0477-21, known as “An Ordinance Providing For Mandatory Testing Before Entry Into Davao City Via The Davao International Airport.”
Davao City was placed under alert level 2 from November 15 to 30, 2021.
The Department of Health (DOH) said the alert level scheme is designed to replace the old system of quarantine classifications that has evolved into an alphabet soup in the past two years.
