DAVAO CITY – Employees of the City Government of Davao have been told to strictly observe the basic health protocols to prevent the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) transmission in the workplace, or else they will be fined P20 for every violation, Mayor Sara Duterte said.
In her interview over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5), Duterte expressed her frustration over the low compliance among city government workers of health protocols, such as wearing of mask and physical distancing in public places that she herself had imposed to control the spread of COVID-19.
Duterte said the city government has around 12,000 workers.
“My anger with people will no longer go away, most especially government employees who should be the ones to show the general public on the correct things to do. So, we discussed with city government employees about the fine and establishment of monitoring from different offices to check on the compliance of the City Government employees to wearing of mask, distancing, and handwashing,” she said.
She added that she compiled photos of workers, who were caught in the act of violating against the protocols, and shared them with the city’s Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) for action.
But Duterte said that she lost her cool, at one point, when she chanced upon an employee who was not wearing a mask while walking down the hallway of the City Hall of Davao.
“There was incident last week or this week when I shouted at one employee of the City Hall. He was walking at the hallway without a mask. I don’t know him but I shouted at him,” she said.
Duterte said the fines collected would be donated to the association run by the workers.
“Because there are so many of them, the collection of fines will reach thousands a day,” she said in jest.
The mayor did not specify as to when the penalty would take effect but said she had already asked to look for a legal basis for its implementation after seeing several employees who are going against the protocols.