Kidapawan City to restrict entry of non-residents due to virus threat

KIDAPAWAN CITY –Starting Monday, March 23, at around 12:01 a.m., the city will be placed under enhanced community quarantine and all its entry points will be closed until April 6, the mayor said.

In his Executive Order No. 30,  issued on March 21, Mayor Joseph Evangelista said that all non-residents of the city shall be prohibited from entering at any point of Kidapawan City. But there are exemptions, he said.

Those who will be exempted include: 

• healthcare personnel involved in medical emergencies, and those working within the city,
• those elected and appointed officials, employees, and personnel of the provincial and local governments in North Cotabato, including those working in the national and regional level, and
• other government line agencies in the exercise of their public functions 

This exemption also extends to the judiciary, the mayor pointed out.

Also subject to exceptions are radio and TV personnel and other media entities; personnel of department stores; food service establishments but are limited only for take-out and delivery services; stores that supply or retail agricultural products and veterinary supplies; banks, money transfer establishments and other financial institutions; gasoline stations and LPG sellers; telecommunication facilities; power and water utility companies; power producing companies; manufacturing and processing plants; funeral parlors; vulcanizing shops; water refilling stations; sari-sari stores; couriers; printing establishments; and institutions involved in lending.

Moreover, Evangelista said that under his order, only tricycles with franchise are allowed to ply city streets, barangay roads, and other routes.

Other mass transport vehicles including vans, buses, and multicabs are not allowed entry, but may only drop off passengers at duly designated checkpoints.

In the case of tricycles, Evangelista said each can carry only two passengers.   All "habal-habal", "skylabs" and motorcycles are not allowed to carry passenger or  in order to observe social distancing.

Likewise, he said the city government shall provide transportation services for free for personnel involved in the maintenance of public order and health.

While the city is under enhanced community quarantine, residents are ordered to stay home.  

His office, he said, will issue a Kidapawan Quarantine Identification Pass (KID-QIP) to each family in the city, which will be distributed in each barangay.  

The Kidapawan Quarantine ID pass, shall serve as authorization for a member of each family to leave home or residence to purchase food, medicines, and basic necessities.

Evangelista said the distribution of ID pass will be done house-to-house by personnel of the City Local Government Operations Office, City Social Welfare and Development Office, and City Planning and Development Office.

Quarantine ID passes shall only be given to a member of the family who is healthy. 

Persons under monitoring (PUM) and persons under investigation (PUI) due to their recent travels to Luzon and countries with COVID-19 cases are not allowed to secure a Quarantine ID pass.

He said that any unauthorized copying or printing of the of the Kidapawan Quarantine ID Pass is tantamount to the crime of Falsification of Public or Official Documents’ and shall be prosecuted accordingly.

“Fraudulent use of the Kidapawan Quarantine ID pass to violate mandatory home quarantine shall constitute non-cooperation under Republic Act 11332 and shall be prosecuted, accordingly,” he said.

Also, work in the city hall are suspended while the city is placed under ‘enhanced’ community quarantine, except those offices that are essential to the delivery of basic services to the community, which include the City Assessors Office, City Treasury, Civil Registrar, CSWD, CLGOO, Agriculture Office, City Environment and Natural Resources Office, Economic Management and Enterprises Office, City Health Office, City Hospital, Business Permit and Licensing Office, CDRRMO, City Mayor’s Office, and City Information Office.

He said that he has already imposed curfew hours, starting 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. the next day, since March 18.

For patients under investigation (PUI) that showed mild flu-like symptoms, the city government has designated the Kidapawan City Pilot Elementary School (KCPES) as isolation facility.  The facility would be manned by a government doctor, nurse, midwife, utility, and members of the Civil Security Unit.

In order to prevent the evasion or circumvention of the quarantine checkpoints, the mayor might order all public and private roads at any point in Kidapawan City ordered closed, upon the recommendation of the Traffic Management Unit, until the  passage of the enabling ordinance.

He said the barangay government unit that has territorial jurisdiction of the closed road shall be responsible for the operation of  road blocks.  —LBG, GMA News