DILG: Metro Manila LGUs to require quarantine passes anew

MANILA, Philippines — Local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila are once again set to require quarantine passes for residents going outdoors as the re-imposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the region looms, the Department of the  Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Monday.

DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said Metro Manila Council (MMC) chair Mayor Edwin Olivarez and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Benjamin Abalos are set to formally make the announcement on quarantine passes, unified curfew hours, and liquor bans in light of the looming ECQ in the NCR.

Nonetheless, Malaya said the DILG has been advised that the LGUs will re-implement its rules on quarantine passes.

“Naabisuhan na ang DILG ng mga LGUs na ibabalik nila yung mga quarantine passes para maging maayos yung paglabas ng ating mga kababayan para magpabakuna, para pumunta sa tindahan para bumili ng pagkain, o kaya naman pumunta sa pharmacy para bumili ng gamot,” Malaya said during the Laging Handa briefing.

Abalos earlier said that the decision to mandate quarantine passes in NCR is up to LGUs.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier approved the proposal of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and mayors to place Metro Manila under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from August 6 to 20, 2021.

EDV