Media Release:
THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is strongly advising all Private Express and/or Messengerial Delivery Service (PEMEDES) operators to partner with various commercial establishments in facilitating the delivery of food, water, medicine and other basic goods and necessities to families under home quarantine.
This directive seeks to address supply concerns as people are continuously advised to limit mobility and follow social distancing measures for the management of the Covid-19 situation in line with the directives of President Rodrigo R. Duterte and the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID).
“By facilitating the movement of goods, especially essential ones like food, through PEMEDES operators, we aim to dissuade people from physically congregating at groceries, drugstores, and markets just to acquire supplies. The President has been firm in his direction to do whatever it takes to keep person-to-person infection from happening, and we believe that our delivery service providers could play an important role in fulfilling this order,” said DICT Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II.
“We therefore appeal to couriers and vendors alike to consider mutually productive agreements founded on industry best practices. The less people moving around outside, the better, in accordance with the directives of the President through the IATF. Both the supplier and the delivery personnel should practice proper disinfecting measures to make sure that neither them nor the goods they transport will be infected,” Honasan added.
This directive aligns with the previously issued Department Order (DO) 004 prescribing guidelines for PEMEDES operations as a critical service amid the Luzon-wide quarantine. The DO provided for mandatory safeguards for PEMEDES workers, including proper identification of personnel moving about the community, as well as due care in the handling of deliveries and ensuring hygienic practices on the field.
The DICT, through its Postal Regulation Division (PRD), provides regulatory oversight functions over the postal delivery service industry.
All PEMEDES operators that are currently forming linkages with commercial establishments shall provide their status reports to the PRD via email at inquiry.pemedes@dict.gov.ph. (DICT)