BACOLOD CITY - The Department of Education Division of Negros Occidental (DepEd-NegOcc) has sided with the principal of Negros Occidental High School (NOHS) who refused entry to 13 personnel still unvaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on Tuesday. Ian Arnold Arnaez, information officer of DepEd-NegOcc, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday the incident transpired during the first day when a 100 percent on-site workforce was already allowed since this city, where the NOHS campus is based, is now under Alert Level 1. The 13 individuals include nine teachers and four non-teaching personnel. In a statement, the DepEd-NegOcc said it recognizes the effort of NOHS principal Josette Terora in strictly implementing the DepEd Task Force Covid-19 Memorandum 575 dated December 7, 2021. "DepEd-NegOcc firmly believes that Ms. Terora's decision to deny admittance to the 13 unvaccinated personnel was solely based on the DepEd policy, and not on any willful desire to discriminate against them given that vaccination is not mandatory," it added. Memorandum 575 refers to the vaccination requirement for personnel reporting on-site beginning December 1, 2021, which is based on the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution 148-B, which provides that "(i)n areas where there are sufficient supplies of Covid-19 vaccines as determined by the National Vaccination Operations Center, all establishments and employers in the public and private sector shall require their eligible employees who are tasked to do on-site work to be vaccinated against Covid-19." Although eligible employees who remain to be unvaccinated may not be terminated solely by such reason, they shall be required to undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests regularly at their own expense for purposes of on-site work, or when RT-PCR capacity is insufficient or not immediately available, antigen tests may be resorted to, it added. According to DepEd-NegOcc, Terora, being the school administrator, is duty-bound to comply with all department issuances to ensure the health and safety of all personnel as well as that of the learners when face-to-face classes resume. Moreover, it appealed to its personnel anew to submit themselves to vaccination for their protection from the virus, and as part of the preparations for the eventual return to in-person classes. The DepEd-NegOcc also noted there are still no guidelines on "how to handle the attendance records of personnel who cannot be accommodated in the school premises, despite being required to report on-site, due to failure to present proof of vaccination or valid negative RT-PCR/antigen test result". Since the Civil Service Commission (CSC) policy on alternative work arrangement (AWA) is still in place, all schools under DepEd-NegOcc will still adhere to the AWA regardless of the alert level status until such time the DepEd, CSC, or IATF-EID guidelines specific to attendance will be implemented, it added. The DepEd-NegOcc added the IATF-EID guidelines on the nationwide implementation of Alert Level System for Covid-19 response issued on February 27 shall also be followed. (PNA) }