Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte was firm on implementing the district clustering as she called on Dabawenyos to strictly follow the scheme as this aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus from identified hotspots in the city.
And she emphasized that the clustering was a measure to protect the people from the deadly Covid-19 virus.
“Wala baya namo na gihimo tungod kay gikalingawan ra na namo. Gihimo ni para sa inyohang tanan. Gibuhat namo na because dunay mga areas nga increasing ang ilahang problem sa Covid-19 and we want to protect other areas sa ingon-ani nga situation,” she said.
She noted that the welfare and protection of the general public was taken into consideration.
“Kung ang inyohang convenience, ug ang inyohang mga kagustuhan lang ang atoang sundon, it’s as if nga wala ta’y control…” she said. “If you insist to move around even if there is a Public Health Emergency, then kami nga naa sa gobyerno, wala namo gibuhat ang amoang trabaho.”
She asked Dabawenyos to follow this measure.
“Didto lang ka kung asa ang cluster nimo, didtoa lang ka pwede motuyok. Ang gusto nato is for people to stop moving outside of their area or cluster (You can only move around your cluster. We want people to stop moving outside of their area or cluster),” Mayor Sara said in an interview with the Davao City Disaster Radio.
The clustering of barangays allows residents to use their Food and Medicine (FM) pass within their respective clusters as an additional control measure to slow the transmission of the coronavirus.
Mayor Sara has identified Buhangin and Talomo District as Davao City’s hotspots where there are a high number of coronavirus cases. Buhangin District has 24 and Talomo has 28 cases as of April 18, 2020.
The city government has identified six clusters: Cluster 1 – Poblacion A and B and Talomo District residents; Cluster 2 – Agdao District; Cluster 3 – Buhangin District; Cluster 4 – Toril District; Cluster 5 – Calinan, Baguio, Marilog, Tugbok and some barangays of Paquibato; and, Cluster 6 – Bunawan, some barangays of Paquibato and the Island Garden City of Samal.
The district clustering, however, drew mixed reactions from Dabawenyos claiming this has caused their inconvenience. The mayor was firm with the city government’s decision to protect people from getting the disease.
“If we are to accommodate tanan nga gusto ninyo, it’s as if na wala tay control na gibuhat. So mangayo ta sa ilahang pagsabot sa mga kinahanglan buhaton. Wala nato ni gibuhat kay gihimo natong kalingawan ang kalisod sa mga tao but gibuhat ni nato because increasing ang number of cases sa atoang Covid-19 dinhi sa atoang Davao City (If we are to accommodate all your requests, it’s as if we do not have any control measures implemented. So we ask for your understanding of all the things we need to do. We are not doing this to make fun of the suffering of the people but we are doing this because the number of Covid-19 cases here in Davao City is increasing). We need to protect the thousands from the problem of Covid-19 infection),” the mayor said.
The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) has set up 22 checkpoints in the city, mostly locatedin critical districts. CIO
