LEGAZPI CITY – The Bicol Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has clarified that residents considered as authorized persons outside residents (APOR) need not secure a travel pass from local government units (LGUs) concerned to enter their place of work.
Lawyer Anthony Nuyda, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Bicol regional director and IATF chairman, issued on Monday an advisory to various LGUs to strictly follow the IATF Omnibus Guidelines that say “the movement of persons across areas placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) or Modified General Community Quarantine for any purpose other than leisure shall be permitted.”
Bicol is now under GCQ and the guidelines, according to the advisory, state that securing a travel pass is not required by LGUs before they allow the APOR entry in their respective borders.
Nuyda, in an interview on Tuesday, said the IATF has been receiving queries and complaints from residents or APOR that some LGUs are requiring them to seek travel clearance and to show documents of their employment before they are allowed to enter their work place.
“Following the GCQ guidelines, aside from the Rapid Pass and IATF ID, valid identification card would be sufficient for APOR to be allowed to go to places outside their respective residences,” he said.
Nuyda added in case the workers do not have any ID, they may secure from their respective barangay a certification that he/she is employed in a particular establishment or trade.
Confusion marred the first two days of implementation of GCQ in Bicol as people who were about to return to work trooped to their respective LGU offices to seek travel pass, resulting in unusual mass gatherings that violated the GCQ guidelines against crowding and safe physical distancing protocols. (PNA)
