The Davao City government has set off its contact tracing of the people present during the grand wedding of the scions of two well-known families in Davao City after one of the guests later tested positive of the deadly coronavirus.
Contact tracing follows case investigation and is a process to identify, monitor, and support individuals who may have been exposed to a person with the highly-infectious Covid-19.
Mayor Inday Sara Duterte had ordered the conduct of contact tracing to prevent the spread of the virus to other members of their family, friends, and other associates. It was not known where the guests were coming from.
During the Mayor’s live broadcast over the Davao City Disaster Radio on Tuesday, Mayor Sara reminded Dabawenyos, regardless if they are rich or poor, famous, or ordinary citizens, must heed the government advice to keep family gatherings a low-key affair.
Under Section 5 and 7 of Executive Order No. 25 issued by Mayor Sara on April 17, 2020, private parties to mark personal or family milestones should be kept low and modest with no more than 25 guests. It also states that the city government can file actions based on Article 25 of the Civil Code and other pertinent laws in cases of thoughtless extravagance in expenses for pleasure or display.
“Ang mga datu they think they know everything, that they are above the law, tungod naa sila’y kwarta… So the party happened, guess what? Naay nag-positive. Karon, we do contact tracing nga pwede dili naman unta to mahitabo (The rich think they know everything, that they are above the law because they have money. So the party happened, guess what? Someone tested positive. Now, we do contact tracing which should not happen),” Mayor Sara said.
The mayor recalled encountering similar instances advising people against holding such gatherings but still pushed through, resulting in someone getting infected.
“Lami kaayo mosulti og ‘I told you so’ but of course, siyempre dili na ka mosulti kay wala nama’y point ang ‘I told you so’. Mag way forward na lang ta pirmi ani sa inyohang mga kabuang (I want to tell them ‘I told you so’ but of course, there is no more point to say that. We just have to move forward because of your foolishness).”
The mayor said that the City Legal Office (CLO) is looking into possible charges against the family for the violation of the law. CIO
