DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 12 October) – Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte has ordered the reimposition of the curfew and liquor ban, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting October 15 to December 31, 2020, amid the surge in the number of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the city.
During her live interview over the Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) on Monday, Duterte said that the curfew must be reimposed to restrict the non-essential activities of the people.
“We are trying to shorten the time wherein the people could do extracurricular activities other than their work,” she said.
She said the local government needed to take a drastic move to put the transmission of the highly contagious virus under control because the COVID-19 isolation ward of the Southern Philippines Medical Center is almost full.
In restoring the curfew, Duterte explained that she anticipates that more people will go out during the holiday season.
“We expect an increase during the holiday season because this is the time when the people are in a celebratory mood. We are on a (virus) surge right now. Add to that the holiday celebration, we will drown,” she said.
As of October 12, the Department of Health – Davao reported 3,610 cases in the region with 2,801 recoveries and 118 deaths.
Of the total cases, 2,363 were reported in Davao City, 391 in Davao del Norte, 285 in Davao Oriental, 242 in Davao de Oro, 241 in Davao del Sur and 88 in Davao Occidental.
Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) 55, which was released on Monday, prohibits the selling of liquors and orders “sari-sari” stores to close within the curfew period.
The individuals who are exempted from the curfew include workers from government offices and private establishments; medical doctors and veterinarians; workers of public utility companies such as energy, water and internet conducting construction, maintenance or emergency activities; those in subsistence and business fishing activities; individuals attending the wake of a family member; and all persons in medical, emergency and disaster cases.
Duterte said she is set to issue another order expanding the exemptions provided in EO 55.
She said that exempted individuals are required to present, during inspection on the streets or at checkpoints, their identification cards that they are from establishments or offices that are allowed to operate within the curfew period.
Duterte encouraged establishments, places of worship and other institutions to adjust their operating hours.
The local government prohibited the drinking of alcoholic beverages in public places such as roads, alleys, open spaces and other similar places at any given time, while the singing of videoke and karaoke inside private property would be prohibited from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day.
The order provides that the purok or community leader could seek police assistance at any time of the day to require households to turn off a videoke/karaoke machine, if the sound has become disruptive to the neighborhood.
