THE City Government of Davao temporarily suspended the implementation of Food and Medicine (FM) pass effective 12:01 a.m. of March 15, 2021.
This is one of the salient points of the recently-released Executive Order (EO) 12 Series of 2021, which updated the city’s Covid-19 protocols.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio on March 15, 2021 that this is to align the city’s quarantine guidelines to the national Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“Base ni sa discussion sa Task Force, to avoid confusion sa mga tao, maong atong gi-align sa IATF national guidelines (This is based on the city’s Covid-19 Task Force to avoid confusion from the public. We aligned our protocols according to the existing guidelines of the IATF),” she said.
Under section 17 of the said EO, FM pass and other documents for travel/movement are temporarily suspended. Establishments that previously require FM pass to access essential goods and services are now advised to look for Safe Davao QR (DQR) instead.
“The use of the FM pass and other documents for travel/movement shall be temporarily suspended and the DQR shall be the only document that will be used to access goods and essential services,” read the EO’s section 17.
DQR is the city's electronic contact tracing and travel pass platform intended to be implemented for several purposes. City and non-city residents within the territorial jurisdiction of the city are required to register and secure their own DQR. It was piloted in November last year.
On April 7, 2020, at the height of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the City implemented the FM pass scheme. It was later lifted on August 3 and was reimposed on November 17 following the surge of Covid-19 cases in the city late last year.
Meanwhile, the EO also allows public markets to open on Sundays and allows vendors to sell from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Under the EO’s section 3 - Age and Health Risk Restrictions, any person below 15 years old, those who are 65 years old and above, those with immunodeficiency, comorbidity or other health risks, and pregnant women, including any person who resides with the aforementioned, will be required to remain in their residences at all times, except for obtaining goods and essential services; work or business in permitted industries and offices; attending essential meetings and social events; conducting non-contact sports and exercise, and essential travel including attending burial, going to the doctor and other equally important activities.
The city’s existing guidelines on curfew and liquor ban, according to the latest EO, are still in effect.