Davao City: The chair of the Committee on Health of the 19th City Council explained the significance of the Ordinance for the Mandatory Submission of Health and Other Emergencies Contact Tracing Forms for All Persons Entering Davao City by Land, Air or Sea.
Councilor Mary Joselle Villafuerte said that the ordinance was a special request of Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio with the main goal of doing contact tracing of all persons entering the territorial jurisdiction of Davao City.
Villafuerte said the ordinance is being reviewed by the City Legal Office and if found that the passage of the ordinance did not violate any national law, it will be forwarded to the Chief Executive Officer, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio who will implement the ordinance.
She said the ordinance involves a contact tracing form which requests certain data from persons who are entering Davao City.
“The data will include the date of arrival, full name, nationality, age, sex, birthdate, and how the person arrived in Davao City like plane so one has to reveal the flight number, bus number and bus company, if one comes to the city by land, vessel name if one came here by sea, and if private vehicle, declare the vehicle plate number, the name of the hotel where you intend to stay or your address in Davao City,” Villafuerte said.
She said the person also needs to declare his residence address in the Philippines, Philippine mobile number and e-mail address.
Villafuerte said that since this is a health and other emergency contact tracing form, it also requires to declare one’s medical condition or any sign or symptoms of an illness upon entry in Davao City.
“We will have forms at the airport, sea ports, checkpoints and bus stations. All persons who will enter the city will fill up this form,” she said.
Villafuerte recalled that one of the questions that came out during the deliberation of this ordinance was about the situation for a Davao City resident who goes out and upon his return, needs to fill up the form, since this move is time consuming especially if these residents only want to go swimming in Samal Island and every time they come back they need to fill up the form.
She said she was informed by Mayor Sara that Davao City will soon have a Davaoeno card, in consonance to the Universal Health Care Law.
Villafuerte said the Davaoeno card will contain all the information about a person from Davao City. She said that it is also good that the card has a scanner like the ones used in passports that present the data about the Davaoeno.
“It will give the authorities, where the person came from and his probable point of entry,” Villafuerte said.
She said that it is a good preparation for future situation.
“The world that we know is now different after the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if we are not out of the Enhanced Community Quarantine yet, we have to prepare for the post COVID world,” Villafuerte said.
She said that with the ECQ that might be extended pending the formulation of a new vaccine, the city needs to monitor the entry of people to make the city safer from highly transmissible illness like COVID-19. (PIA XI-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)
