DICT urges couriers to partner with companies in delivering goods

MANILA, Philippines— The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is urging all private express and/or messengerial delivery service (PEMEDES) operators to partner with commercial establishments in facilitating the delivery of food, water, medicine and other basic necessities amid the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The DICT said the advisory seeks to address the supply concerns of families while also being in line with the national government and the Inter-Agency Task Force’s (IATF) directives to limit mobility and follow social distancing measures in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“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,” DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan II said in a statement Monday.

“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,” he added.

This directive aligns with the previously issued Department Order (DO) 004, which states PEMEDES operations as “a critical service amid the Luzon-wide quarantine,” the DICT said. The DO provides 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. The department states that PEMEDES Operators currently forming linkages with commercial establishments shall provide their status reports to the PRD via email at [email protected].

The ECQ placed over Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and other “high-risk” areas in the country has been extended to last until May 15.

JPV