THE Davao City Overland Transport Terminal (DCOTT) set up a cubicle curtain for passengers wearing religious veils.
DCOTT head Aisa Usop said on Saturday, October 26, that these passengers, particularly Muslim women wearing hijab and Roman Catholic nuns, will only be asked to go to the cubicle if the walk through scanner machine would alarm.
“Nagbutang mi og cubicle curtain sa kilid sa x-ray baggage machine. Pag-agi nila sa walk-through machine, ningtingog siya, then that’s the time na kapkapan ka didtoa (We set up a cubicle curtain beside the x-ray baggage machine. You will only be frisked when you pass through and the machine beeps),” Usop said.
She said this is part of the terminal’s strengthening of security, wherein influx of passengers is expected to increase starting October 28.
“Tanang bagahe, ipa-agi sa x-ray walk through scanner. Tanang tao need kapkapan, even mga Muslim sisters nako nga naka-hijab (All baggage will have to pass through the x-ray walk through scanner. All passengers, including my fellow Muslim sisters wearing hijab, are required to be frisked),” the Dcott official said.
Usop said that only Task Force Davao women officials will only be allowed to frisk those women wearing religious veils.
“Even ang tomboy, dili nato i-allow na mukapkap kay bawal na sa amo being a Muslim (I will not also allow a ‘tomboy’ frisk them because that is prohibited in our Muslim practice),” she said.
She added that this is in line with the “The Hijab Ordinance of Davao City” enacted in 2018.
The approved ordinance indicates the promotion of and protection of the right, well-being and religious belief of Muslim women to wear hijab, niqab or burqa in school campuses, workplaces, commercial establishments and other private of public places.
The ordinance will still have to consider security and general protection by allowing a female security to remove cover for facial recognition.
Meanwhile, Usop said they had already strengthened the security measures within and outside the terminal to ensure the safety of the passengers who will observe the holidays outside the city.