Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte has issued Executive Order (E.O.) 45-A, which mandates the hiring of fully vaccinated individuals starting January 1, 2022.
E.O. 45-A, signed on September 20, is the new version of E.O. 45, also known as “An Order Mandating The Vaccination Of All City Government of Davao Plantilla, Job Order, Contract of Service, and Volunteers For COVID-19 and Stipulating Sanctions For The Refusal of Such,” that was signed by the mayor on September 15.
The E.O. 45 version did not state when the hiring of fully vaccinated only city government workers will take effect.
Both EOs ordered the mandatory vaccination of all City Government of Davao employees on or before November 30, 2021, and failure to do so will be meted with sanctions.
A plantilla personnel who refuses to undergo vaccination shall be held administratively for insubordination and shall be penalized with a one month and one-day suspension to six months for the first offense; and dismissal from the service for the second offense, under Section 50 (d) of the 2017 Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service (2018 RACCS).
An exemption from the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination may be possible due to medical reasons, such as contraindications of available vaccines to a person’s comorbidity. The Vaccine Cluster of the Davao COVID-19 Task Force will have to endorse the exemption to the Human Resource Management Office (HRMO).
Out of the 20,000 city government employees, 12,000 have already been vaccinated without any death recorded.
“The unreasonable refusal of some personnel to get vaccinated should not be allowed to bring to naught the cooperation of the majority, their effort to achieve herd immunity and their right to a healthy disease-free environment,” Mayor Duterte said.
She also said that while the local government unit (LGU) recognizes the right to health of government personnel, including the right to refuse vaccination, this should bow to the superior right of the majority consisting of other city government personnel and the public at large.
The new directive was issued in the wake of the COVID-19 surge in Davao City. Of the COVID-19 deaths from August 29 to September 4, it was found out that 42 of the 46 who expired were unvaccinated.
In the Special Hours program of 87.5 Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) program held Monday, September 20, Mayor Duterte said: “If you are a person who feels aggrieved by the EO because you are a city government personnel then you go to our City
