Employees need only work docs, ID to pass thru

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Thursday clarified that only locally stranded individuals (LSIs) are required to obtain travel authority.

Workers, who are considered authorized persons outside of residence (Apors), only need their company IDs and employment papers to get around.

In a statement on Thursday, Año said employees in essential industries allowed to operate who are among Apors can simply show their company IDs or employment certificates at police quarantine control points to be allowed passage.

IDs as ‘travel authority’

The interior secretary issued the clarification after reports and a particular incident in Rodriguez, Rizal province, showed that returning workers had to queue for travel authority so they could go to work in Metro Manila.

Año stressed that company IDs or certificates of employment would “serve as [these workers’] travel authority.”

He also assured the public that the different quarantine control points have been furnished a list of industries allowed to operate. The company ID or employment certificate only needed to be matched with the list so workers would be allowed to pass through.

Businesses to reopen Among industries allowed to operate under the modified enhanced community quarantine and the general community quarantine are food and agriculture, media, manufacturing, utilities, banks and money-transfer agencies.

As for LSIs, the Department of the Interior and Local Government spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said they need to get travel authority from local police stations after submitting a medical clearance issued by the city or town health office.