DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio barred government employees from organizing their own Christmas parties despite the continuing downtrend of Covid-19 cases in the city.
"Parties are allowed dinha lang sa private sector. Dinhi sa atoa sa City Government, wala na tanan," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio Monday, December 13.
This is in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 43, prohibiting all barangay, local and national government office events including GOCC events until December 31, 2021.
EO 43 is an extension to EO 31 issued on May 24, which lapsed after August 31.
The EO stated that non-essential events among government offices, including government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC) in Davao City, are still prohibited.
"There is a need to extend the provisions of Executive Order No. 31 series of 2021 to regulate some activities that can contribute to local transmission in the City," the mayor said in her EO.
Duterte-Carpio, meanwhile, said in the radio interview that the City wants to avoid government-initiated parties to be the main cause of the Covid-19 transmission.
The mayor previously said some government events had been the source of infection.
She said it is under the discretion of the private offices if they intend to do their respective parties.
"We'll leave it to the private sector kung kinsa to gusto ng mag-event, kinsa to dunay activity (if they want to spearhead their own event or activity)," Duterte-Carpio said.
This is also in accordance with the Alert Level 2 status given to the city by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) as the city’s Covid-19 active cases continue to decline.
Under the Alert Level 2, meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibits/events (Mice) activities are permitted provided that health protocols and limited maximum venue capacity will be strictly observed.
However, she reminded the public to be cautious in attending gatherings, and continuously follow the minimum health protocols.
"Mag-remind lang ko sa tanan na (I’d like to remind everyone that) although it's allowed, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's safe," Duterte-Carpio said.
"If you can avoid [it], then it would be best, but if you cannot avoid [it], do not take off your mask," Duterte-Carpio added.