Mayor Sara recommends safer barrier for motorcycle riders

DAVAO CITY, July 10 (PIA) – Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is recommending the use of a safer barrier between the motorcycle driver and its passenger.

With the restoration of the riding-in-tandem by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) based on the recommendation made by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), she encouraged the use of a barrier that is safe for both the driver and the passenger.

Duterte-Carpio stressed husband and wife and live-in partners within the household with the same surnames or the same address are allowed and inclusive in the policy is the lesbian, gays, bisexual and transgenders (LGBT). 

She also pointed out that the drivers and passengers of motorcycles must wear helmets, face masks and barriers in between. 

“The barrier is important to ensure lesser contact between the driver and passenger.  The doctors do not want the saliva of either of the two persons to spread during the ride,” Duterte-Carpio said.

She explained that as long as there is a barrier, the relationship of the rider and passenger no longer matters. 

However, Duterte-Carpio revealed that the local government will still follow the memorandum order issued to the police on this matter

“The barrier is a protocol approved by the IATF to ensure that the saliva of the driver and the rider would not strew,” she said. 

Duterte-Carpio said they are coming up with a safer version of barrier to be used in the city later the day. 

She also underscored that it is still premature to consider Davao City as a model in the COVID-19 infection effort since there is no precedence to this feat and the COVID-19 cases in the city are still increasing. 

Duterte-Carpio said the city needs to intensify the campaign for residents to stay home, wearing of masks, social distancing, hand hygiene and washing hands with alcohol. 

She said the face mask ordinance is necessary as first line of defense against COVID-19. 

“Wearing of face mask is helping the city reduce the COVID-19 cases and in protecting the young and the old with comorbidities,” Duterte-Carpio said. (PIA XI-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)