HONORABLE CARLO NOGRALES

Co-Chairman
INTER AGENCY TASK FORCE

Dear Sir,

This has reference to the Executive Order No. 2020-036, Series of 2020 issued by
the Honorable City Mayor of Paranaque City, Hon. Mayor Edwin Olivarez entitled
“AN ORDER PRESCRIBING INTERIM GUIDELINES FOR THE ESTABLISMENTS
ALLOWED TO OPERATE IN THE CITY OF PARANAQUE UNDER THE MODIFIED
ENHANCED COMMUNITY QUARANTINE (MECQ)””
Section 3 of said Executive Order states that “Section 3. COVID-19 TESTING- For
the safety of all stakeholders, business establishments/employers are required to
test workers for COVID-19. Rapid COVD screening tests shallbe done by an
accredited testing center or facility of the Department of Health (DOH) and/or the
City Health Office (CHO). However public or private institutions are not prohibited
from purchasing and using Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-Approved
COIVD19 Antibody test kits, provided that FDA DOH guidelines on the use of these
test kits are followed”. Xxxx
Further Section 12 thereof states that “Section 12. COMPLIANCE WITH
GUIDELINES AND PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF- Business establishments
may commence operations without prior clearance from the CHO. They are given
an inextendible period of seven (7) days from the commencement of the
operations to comply with the conduct of rapid COVID-19 screening test of their
employees. Failure to comply with these guidelines will be a ground for summary
suspension and/or revocation of the establishment’s sanitary permit. Violations of
herein provisions shall warrant the imposition of criminal and administrative
sanctions as maybe found in pertinent laws, ordinances, and rules and
regulations. xxxx
While the executive order is laudable in its purpose, the mandatory covid-19 rapid
testing will necessarily entail a huge unbudgeted expense on the part of the
employer, especially those that employ more than 200 employees/workers. Our
company was forced by circumstance to stop its operation because of the
Enhanced Community Quarantine and the suspension of works in all business
establishments in Luzon. Despite our stoppage of work, we continued to pay and
shoulder our employees’ salaries and wages. Without any income for two (2)
months, our company suffered huge losses in the form of cancelled orders,
cancelled importations and suspension of payments of our receivables. We barely
can stand up this time and what we need is a little lift from our Government not a
regulatory imposition, such as this Executive Order that comes with an additional
financial burden which if not restrained will certainly deliver the final blow leading
to our permanent closure.
We seek your refuge because of the proviso in Section 3 thereof which states that
“xxx provided that FDA and DOH guidelines on the use of these test kits are
followed." DOH DM 2020-0220 Interim guidelines on the return to work, COVID-
19 testing on the returning employees/worker, is not mandatory as it gives the
employer the option to do the testing or not, thus item III (D) of said DOH DM
provides:
“1. While testing is an important component of response against COVID-19,
limitation on their reliability and validity shall be recognized;
2. Employers who opt to conduct testing may do so in a representative sample
from those who have returned to work physically and have a high risk of
contracting COVID-19 due to the nature of the work. (e.g. frontliners) xxxx”
Cursory reading of the said provisions would clearly show its directory nature
contrary to what the questioned Executive Order provides. Accordingly, the
mandatory COVID-19 rapid testing as required by the said Executive Order of the
City Mayor of Paranaque is not in consonance with DOH DM 2020-0220.
We have set in place all that is required under DOH DM 2020-0220 aimed to
prevent, control and diminish COVID-19 infection in the workplace such as but not
limited to the following:
a. Placed a footbath in front of our office entrance. A guard is assigned
thereat in order to ensure that all employees/costumers should set foot on
said footbath;
 b. Temperature screening of all employees and customers;
c. A hand sanitizer is placed beside the attendance biometrics and all
employees are required to disinfect their hands with the hand sanitizer
after they have used the biometrics;
d. All employees are provided with face masks to be used during their entire
stay at the office;
e. Each working station is provided with 70% alcohol solution; and
f. All employees are provided with covered trash bins.
We undertake to improve the said preventive measures day by day to make the
same an important part of our new normal. Even as we raise an issue to the
mandatory COVID-19 rapid testing, we will definitely subject all employees who
will manifest symptoms of the disease.
We sincerely hope that your good office may bring this issue with the Honorable
City Mayor Edwin Olivarez and work for its suspension.

Teodoro Jacinto Sales

General Manager