Gov’t to allow workers in select industries to cross from GCQ to ECQ areas
Posted at May 12 2020 08:26 PM
MANILA – People will be allowed to travel for work from an area under general community quarantine (GCQ) to another area under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) if the establishment or industry that employs them is deemed “indispensable”, Malacanang said on Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said workers traveling from GCQ to ECQ areas just need to present IDs to show where they live and where they work, as well as their employment certificate.
“Meron na po tayong rule na pag between ECQ and GCQ, basta po indispensable industry na hinayaang magbukas, pwede pong tumawid ang mga mangagawa. Magdala lang po ng ID na magpapatunay kung saan sila nagtatrabaho at ID na magpapatunay kung saan sila nakatira,” Roque said.
(We have a rule that travel between ECQ and GCQ, as long as its an indispensable industry that’s allowed to open, workers can cross. Just bring an ID as proof of where they work and an ID as proof of where they live.)
Roque earlier also said that the movement of people in the areas under modified ECQ, will remain limited to essential services and travel to work.
The Philippine National Police meanwhile has also said that people left stranded because of the lockdown will not be immediately allowed to return to their hometowns or provinces once the ECQ is lifted.
Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, said they expect a possible exodus of people to their hometowns, especially those who were trapped in their workplaces and rented houses and boarding houses.
Eleazar said they are now preparing for the security measures for this.
“There is already a guideline issued regarding our Locally Stranded Individuals (LSI) so we encourage our kababayans to be aware and follow it because they may interpret the lifting of the ECQ as a go-signal for them to go back to their hometowns. We will not allow that,” Eleazar said in a statement on Monday.
Under the guidelines issued by the government body tasked with checking the spread of COVID-19, a person who wants to go back to his/her hometown must first secure a medical certificate from the health offices of the local government units where he/she was stranded. The certificate must state that they are cleared of the coronavirus and that they underwent the necessary quarantine procedures.
Local officials of their hometowns must also provide a certification that they are accepting their returning constituents.
These two documents will then be processed by the concerned police commanders for the issuance of travel authority. The travel authority includes the date of travel, point of origin and destination, and name of driver and vehicles that will be used in the transport.
Eleazar said that if the area involved is within the province, the certification could be issued by the provincial commander; if the area involves two provinces within a region, the certification could be secured from the police regional director; and, if the areas involved two regions, the certification will come from the Director of the PNP Directorate for Operations.
Those who got infected but were able to recover, Eleazar said, should test negative in at least two tests and should have undergone the necessary quarantine protocols before they are allowed to go back to their hometowns.
These strict measures will be implemented to prevent asymptomatic virus carriers from spreading the novel coronavirus, the police official said.
Eleazar added that the Joint Task Force expects LGUs to come up with their own guidelines for returning constituents who were stranded in other areas, especially in places where COVID-19 cases are high.
He, however, stressed that the guideline that would be implemented by the LGUs should be in line with the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
