Mayor Sara Z. Duterte appealed to employers on Tuesday to show compassion to their employees who are expected to be affected should the local government implement the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

She said employers can provide food assistance to their employees while they stay at home and help authorities contain the spread of the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

“We’ve been taught that charity starts at home, so instead of making donations somewhere else, I appeal that you see through the plight of your workers, provide them with food assistance, and help them survive the crisis that swept through sectors and classes — but severely, those who barely make ends meet, including your workers,” Duterte said in a radio interview.

Duterte has been signaling for days that the city government is on the final stage in implementing the ECQ.

“Let us make sure that they (the employees) will not starve. There are some employers who already provided food for their employees,” she said.

She added that the intervention of the local government will reach and cover all families in the city, particularly “those who have less.”

Employers of workers who are still allowed to report for duty during the ECQ are also requested to provide transportation, with strict observation of proper distancing.

The mayor said public utility jeepneys can be hired for this purpose to help displaced drivers.

“In this way, we make sure that no one is out of food and that no Dabawenyo will starve until April 30, 2020,” she added.

Duterte also assured Dabawenyos can overcome the current health crisis as long as the public cooperates with the safety measures set by the Department of Health (DOH).

“We are Dabawenyos. We have always shown that our hearts are for each other and for our city. Collectively, our spirit as a people has been and will always be indestructible,” she said. (PNA)