DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The City Council passed an ordinance that will impose a curfew until the community quarantine is lifted.
On Friday’s (Mar. 20) regular session, the Committee on Peace and Public Safety, headed by councilor Maria Belen Acosta, approved the city-wide curfew from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM.
The ordinance was based on Mayor Sara Duterte’s Executive Order No. 10 which placed Davao City under community quarantine. It is also based on the Regional Task Force-11 COVID-19’s Resolution No. 2 series of 2020 which adopted the curfew hours in the entire Davao region to mitigate or contain the spread of disease.
“There is an immediate need to contain the spread of COVID-19 through strict implementation of existing government guidelines, health and safety measures, and social distancing,” Acosta said.
Those exempted from the curfew are:
1.Employees of establishments providing basic necessities;
· Public markets, supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores
· Hospitals, medical and dental clinics, pharmacies and drug stores
· Food preparation and delivery services, water refilling stations, manufacturing and processing plants of basic food products and medicines
· Banks, couriers, money transfer services
· Power, energy, water and telecommunication supplies
· Media personnel
· Public transportation or transportation of goods and services
· Persons transiting to and from work
· Those persons enumerated above all shall present their necessary identification and certificate of employment.
2. Persons accessing basic necessities and emergency services;
· Those buying food and medicines;
· Those requiring immediate health services; and
· Those doing other essential activities covered by analogous medical and humanitarian reasons.
3. Authorized government officials and personnel of law enforcement agencies; and
4. The person who officially assisted in the fight against COVID-19.
Under the penalty clause of the said ordinance, “violations of the provisions shall be punished without prejudice to the prosecution of other criminal action”.
The ordinance imposed a fine of Php 3,000 for the first offense, Php 5,000 and imprisonment of not more than one year at the discretion of the court for the second offense. (davaotoday.com)
