MANILA, Philippines — Checkpoints along roads shared by Quezon province and Laguna have been tightened too in adherence to restrictions on traveling into and out of the general community quarantine (GCQ) bubble.
Video clips from Radyo Inquirer on Thursday showed police officers actively manning the highway checkpoint in Tiaong, Quezon, which serves as an entry point to Laguna.
Going into and leaving the province of Laguna, except for essential purposes, is banned as the province is part of the GCQ bubble, which includes Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal.
Police Lt. Jay Padre, of Tiaong PNP, said that the police officers on duty have already sent back several motorists and individuals for doing non-essential trips like tourism and leisure, and other reasons not deemed necessary by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“So lahat ng pumapasok dito sa bandang Quezon na nanggagaling sa bubble areas like Laguna […] chine-check po natin. So ang allowed lang po natin na pumasok dito ‘yong mga residente po natin, ‘yong mga magpa-passing through going to Bicol (region), Samar, Leyte, hahanapan po natin sila ng ID na sila ay tiga-Samar talaga or tiga-Bicol talaga,” Padre told Radyo Inquirer.
(So we are checking those who want to enter this part of Quezon, especially those who come from the bubble areas like Laguna. So only residents of this area, those passing through going to Bicol Region, Samar, Leyte, are allowed to pass through provided that they can show identification cards that they really hail from Samar or Bicol.)
“Lahat po ng mga lehitimong tiga-Quezon pinapayagan, except ‘yong mga nagta-trabaho sa Metro Manila na magbabakasyon lang dito sa Quezon, hindi po ina-allow […] so far ang accounted namin is nasa 30 individual, kasama na ‘yong mga sasakyan, na unauthorized po na dapat pumasok sa area natin,” he added.
(All legitimate residents of Quezon are allowed to go in, except for those working in Metro Manila and are just looking to spend their vacation in the province, those cases are not allowed. So far we have accounted for 30 individuals and cars, who are deemed unauthorized to enter.)
As of now, the country is experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases, with over 99,000 active cases on Thursday. The high rate of infections force the national government to restrict movement in and out of the bubble, to contain the COVID-19 transmissions.
Department of Health numbers also showed that the country broke — again — the record for single-day increases in infections, with 8,773 new cases. The previous high was recorded just this Monday, at 8,019 new cases.
READ: FAQs: What’s a GCQ bubble?