Bicol residents need not get travel pass to go to work

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — Bicol residents who are considered as “authorized persons outside residence” need not secure a travel pass from local government units concerned as a requirement for entry in places where they are working, according to the Bicol Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) clarified on Monday.

Lawyer Anthony Nuyda, Bicol chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and IATF chair, issued on Monday an advisory to various LGUs to strictly follow the IATF Omnibus Guidelines, which says “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.”

That means they need not get a travel pass.

The Bicol IATF issued the clarification after confusion marred the first two days of the implementation of the GCQ as people who were about to return to their work trooped to their LGUs to get a travel pass. That resulted in an unusual mass gatherings in violation of quarantine rules.

According to Nuyda, the IATF had been receiving queries and complaints from residents about LGUs requiring them to show employment documents before they may be allowed to enter their workplace.

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.

Those without any ID may secure a barangay a certification that they are employed in a particular establishment or trade.

—Mar S. Arguelles