DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Authorities are now implementing a number-coding scheme for food and medicine (FM) passes as the city extends its Enhanced Community Quarantine period.
Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokesperson Captain Rose Aguilar said the decision to implement a coding-scheme is based on proposals raised by Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to limit the public from frequently going out of their houses during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
“The new scheme will take effect immediately to limit our public’s activity outside of their houses,” said Capt. Aguilar, in a phone interview with Davao Today.
Mayor Sara has recently aired her dismay in a radio interview after she personally observed that scores of private vehicles roamed around the area. This despite the implementation of quarantine protocols asking the public to stay at home to contain the spread of coronavirous disease-2019 (Covid-19).
DCPO classified that the FM passes though “number-coding” corresponding to the odd and even first numbers of each pass.
FM passes with control numbers starting at odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are classified as red and are only allowed to go out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
FM passes with control numbers starting at even numbers 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 are classified as the color blue and are only allowed to go out on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
“While we allow people to go out on the assigned days of their control numbers, we will not allow the public to use their FM passes on Sundays,” Capt. Aguilar added.
Capt. Aguilar also told Davao Today that they only have two days to fully inform the public of the new scheme. However, the information was only released to the media and posted on social media. She admitted that DCPO does not have full authority to coordinate with the local barangays to help them inform the public.
“We only send the information with media and we are confident that you can help us inform the public. We are always a partner in information dissemination,” she added.
Meanwhile, Mayor Sara, in a radio interview on Thursday, reiterated her statement that residents should now observe the latest scheme in an effort to control the public from frequently going out of their homes.
She also added that many people used their FM pass to roam around the city, disregarding the protocol on ECQ.
“Hopefully with our new control will reduce the number of people in the streets,” Mayor Sara said.(davaotoday.com)
