THE Davao City Police Office (DCPO) bared that for three months, they have not apprehended a single motorist who violated the "no backride" policy in the city, which is one of the protocols under community quarantine amid the pandemic.
“I believe sumusunod po ang mga tao sa quarantine guidelines natin on the prohibition of backride (people are following our guidelines on the prohibition of back ride on motorcycles),” DCPO Director Police Colonel Kirby John Kraft said Sunday, June 21, 2020.
Since March, people riding behind the driver of a motorcycle were banned across the city as part of the measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Kraft said if backriding will be allowed, it will defeat the purpose of social distancing.
There has been a clamor from the motorists and some local government units (LGUs) to the national government to allow backriding to allow the public to save money and have more convenient transportation. The government has reiterated that the measure is meant to reduce the rate of transmission as cases continue to go up.
Also, Mindanao Development Authority (Minda) chairman Emmanuel Piñol called on the national Inter-agency Task Force for the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-IED) to spare Mindanao in the "no backride policy" of the national government as it is affecting the island's economic recovery, calling it as “impractical, unrealistic and counter-productive.”
However, Kraft said they will only adhere to the guidelines set by the IATF-EID. But for now, there are no guidelines yet on lifting the policy.
“We are just enforcing whatever the IATF and city Task Force Covid-19 order us to implement. They are the policymaker and know what is best to do in order to contain or flatten the curve,” Kraft added.