Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte (Davao CIO photo)
DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio announced Monday the issuance of Executive Order (EO) No. 17, Series of 2021, prohibiting all government personnel, including barangay officials, from engaging in any political activity on her behalf outside of Davao City.
In a radio broadcast, Duterte said the prohibition applies to all government employees, personnel, and officials under the local government unit (LGU) of Davao in order to prevent the further spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the city.
“Nganong kinahanglan nato i-prohibit atoang officials from political activities sa gawas outside of Davao City (Why do we need to prohibit our officials from political activities outside of Davao City)? Because traveling for non-essential purposes is a cause for caution because it poses a danger to the health of the traveler because of the pandemic, because of Covid-19,” she said.
“Ang kanang mga travellers nga gikan sa lugar nga daghan og Covid-19 cases, sila na ang dako og possibility nga mag dala og virus diri sa atoa (Those travelers from other places with many Covid-19 cases, those are the people who could possibly bring the virus here),” she added.
Duterte added that political activity is not an essential cause for travel under the national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) guidelines.
“Ang political activity is considered a non-essential for travel. And kanang political activity naga-gather sya usually og tao. Wala pa ko kita og political activity nga wala nag-tapok ang mga tao, so (it’s a) mass gathering. So mas dako ang risk sa transmission [sa virus] (A political activity is non-essential for travel. And a political activity usually gathers people together. I have never seen any political activity where there are no people gathering around, so (it’s a) mass gathering. So the risk for transmission of the virus is higher),” she said.
Political activities, she said, include caravans, rallies, parades, programs, and all other causes of gathering for political ends.
The EO also provides that all existing laws and ordinances shall be pursued against those who fail to follow the provisions of the said order. (PCOO-DAVAO)
