DAVAO CITY—This city would not enforce policies that would discriminate unvaccinated residents, including restrictions against their movement, except for actions coming from private and business establishments.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio clarified that there would be no city government policies that would require presenting vaccination cards for residents to travel saying, “We allowed our residents option to get vaccinated or not.”
“So there is no point in discriminating them when we allowed them the option in the first place,” she said. “Because it is not mandatory, and we have given them the freedom to chose, why should we restrict them to go around?”
However, business establishment may impose their own policies, such as requiring vaccination cards for people to enter their premises.
“But I am pro-vaccination and I am asking our people to avail of the vaccines. But as I have said people here have the option not to get vaccinated,” she told a regular Monday public affairs program over the city government-operated Davao City Disaster Radio 87.5.
She also clarified about the city government memorandum she earlier issued in September last year requiring all city government personnel to get their vaccination or face sanctions, such as suspension, for regular employees, and to be placed on the last preference for hiring, in the case of job orders and contract of service personnel.
“We only provided counseling on their confusion and hesitation, but that’s how far we can go in this memorandum,” she said.
The city remained on Alert Level 2 but it was experiencing a surge since late last week. From a month-long trend of less than five daily infection, the number went up to 32 on January 4, to 129 on January 8.
It went down to 74 however, by January 9. Positivity rate remained under 10 percent.
Meanwhile, Brig, Gen. Filmore Escobal, chief of the Davao regional police headquarters, announced that the regional office would be implementing a no vaccination-no entry policy in all the quarantine control checkpoints.
A police statement said the move was in compliance to directive issued by National Police chief General Dionardo Carlos.