Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte has urged non-Davao City residents entering through the Francisco Bangoy International Airport to coordinate their travel itinerary with their respective local government unit (LGU) to avoid being stranded in the city.
“Dunay pipila ka mga pasahero nga naglisod pa unsaon sila mosulod didto sa ilahang region from Davao City gikan sa Davao airport. That’s why kung pilion nila ang Davao International Airport, mag reach out sila sa ilahang LGU nga kung pwede sunduon sila para dili sila ma-stranded again diri sa Davao City (Some passengers have difficulty in entering their regions from Davao City from Davao airport. If they choose the Davao International Airport, they should reach out to their LGU to fetch them so they will not be stranded again here in Davao City),” said Mayor Sara in an interview over Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday.
On Monday, the Davao City government issued an advisory asking non-Davao City residents not to select the Davao airport as their entry points if they have not coordinated with their home LGU as they can be stranded in the city due to lack of inter-regional buses.
The city government is also reaching out to other LGUs to provide vehicles to fetch their returning residents at the airport after undergoing swab tests and have their quarantine at their LGU for their resident’s convenience and to decompress the city’s holding facility.
“To decompress our holding facility, we have reached out to Local Government Units nga kung pwede, magpadala sila og sundo kada adlaw sa ilahang mga arriving plane passengers so that pagkahuman og test, naa na dayon ang ilahang kasakyan, naa na silay sundo para dili na sila magstay sa atoang holding facility. Didto na sila magstay sa quarantine facility sa ilahang LGU and atoa na lang i-email sa ilaha ang ilahang mga test results. (To decompress our holding facility, we have reached out to Local Government Units to send a vehicle to fetch their arriving passengers every day so that after they get tested, their ride is already there and they will not anymore stay in our holding facility. Instead, they will stay in the quarantine facility in their LGU and we will e-mail to them the test results,” the mayor said.
Starting July 22, the city government has required all arriving passengers in Davao City to undergo RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing before exit from the Davao Airport to ensure that travelers who enter the city are negative from Covid-19.
Without the negative RT-PCR test results, passengers undergo tests and wait in a holding facility for 24 hours or more until their results come out. If positive, they will be referred to the Southern Philippines Medical Center and if negative, will be allowed to go home and quarantine for 14 days. CIO
