DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Duterte said the city government will enforce a “no vaccine, no renewal” policy where unvaccinated city government employees must take the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year or else their contract shall not be renewed in 2022.
“On January 1, if they are not vaccinated their contracts will not be renewed. It’s already final, it’s already cleared by the City Legal Office,” Mayor Duterte said over Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday.
This mandatory policy covers all 20,522 City Government Employees including job orders, contract of services, volunteers and consultants.
For plantilla personnel, an insubordination case will be filed should they disobey the said policy.
The mayor said an executive order will be released anytime soon to inform all employees regarding the stricter policy.
Mindanews reports that there are 7,955 city government employees who have not taken the COVID-19 vaccination as the city started vaccination among public employees last May. This comprised 62 percent of the total employees.
Mayor Duterte emphasized that the Davao City Government has already given enough time for all its employees to get vaccinated and September to December will be their last chance to do so.
While the country’s Vaccination Program Act (Republic Act 11524) and both Health and Labor departments said the “no vaccine, no work” policy is not allowed, there is an exemption in the public sector.
The Department of Labor Advisory No. 03 Series of 2021 said the prohibition of the “no vaccine, no work” applies only “to all establishments and employers in the private sector.”
City health officials said work-related interactions is the main cause of the recent surge in local transmission in Davao City in the past few months, as the world grapples with the rise of the COVID Delta variant. Officials are concerned that infection has also been transmitted into households.
Currently, the City Assessor’s Office is put on lockdown after 16 employees tested positive. The City Health Dispensary section of the City Health Office is also put on lockdown starting Sept. 2.
As of September 4, the city government has administered the first dose of the COVID jab to 620,284 persons, but nearly half or 347,797 have received their second dose, which is 28.9% of the city’s target of 1.2 million vaccinated residents.
