ONLY four people in Davao Region were transferred to the Isolation Polling Precincts (IPP) during Election Day based on the May 9 tally of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) - Davao.

Comelec-Davao assistant regional director layer Gay Enumerables told SunStar Davao that the four people who voted in the IPP are from the municipalities of Lupon in Davao Oriental, Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, Carmen in Davao del Norte, and from the Kaputian District in the Island Garden City of Samal.

“It could be because malamig ngayon. The entire day, tugnaw, wala sila na-expose sa heat of the sun,” Enumerables said.

The IPP, present in every voting center, is reserved for those individuals who will manifest influenza-like symptoms, such as high temperature, during voting day to ensure the health security of voters especially since Covid-19 is still present in the region.

“Ngayon lang ito because of the pandemic, so yun yung bagong protocol namin. Before going inside the voting center or school, may medical personnel who will check the temperature for every voter,” Enumerables said during a previous interview last March 2022.

(This is just for the elections this year because of the protocols we have to follow amid a pandemic. Medical personnel will be stationed outside the voting centers to check the temperature of every voter.)

Aside from the implementation of the IPP, the minimum public health standards should also be followed however, according to the director of Ateneo de Davao University Bue Vote group Ramon Beleno III, they have observed that the MPHS was not followed.

“Kahit nga yung pag check ng temperature hindi na nasunod. Siguro hindi lang naman sa Davao but in all places sa Pilipinas, kasi nag monitor tayo, talaga yung social distancing is very difficult. kasi pag nagdagsa na, doon sa tinatawag natin na primetime period, mahirap na ma-control yung crowd,” Beleno said.