‘Hatid-sundo’ for working APORs now allowed after public uproar

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar on Thursday said fetching authorized persons outside of residence (APOR) to and from their workplaces will now be allowed during  a two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila.

The move was made a day after Eleazar’s pronouncements banning non-APORs to fetch working APORs was put under a firestorm of criticism.

“Ngayon po, after weighing all these things, nagbigay po ng bagong guidance ngayon na ia-allow na po ‘yun, itong mga ito, itong mga non-APOR na maghahatid sa ating mga APOR,” Eleazar said over Teleradyo.

(Now, after weighing all these things, there is a new guidance that will allow non-APOR to fetch our working APORs.)

However, the non-APOR who will fetch a working APOR should now secure a certificate of employment of worker that also indicates the name of the driver or fetcher, the plate number of the vehicle to be used, and contact number of the employer; as well as a copy of the business permit of their company, according to Eleazar.

“Ang mga requirements na ito ay mahalaga sa pagsasagawa ng random counter-checking ng ating kapulisan upang matiyak na lehitimo ang mga dokumentong nagbibigay ng permiso na ihatid ang sundo ang ating workforce APORs,” Eleazar said in a later statement.

(These requirements are important especially when we conduct our random counter checking to ensure that the documents which allow non-APOR to fetch workforce APORs are legitimate.)

However, those non-APOR who will fetch working APOR should now secure a requirement as a proof that the former is an authorized fetcher.

“We will require the employer na mag-issue ng certificate of employment na nakalagay na doon syempre, kung sino ‘yung worker APOR na yun, kung ano ‘yung, pati po ‘yung detalye doon, and then nakalagay din doon kung sino ‘yung designated na itong worker APOR na ito na kasama niya sa bahay, na driver niya, pati ‘yung description ng sasakyan,” Eleazar explained.

(We will require the employer to issue a certificate of employment which indicates, of course, who is the worker APOR, and who is their designated non-APOR driver, then the description of the vehicle.)

“Andito din yung contact person ng taong ito, at the same time, naka-attach din doon, yung business permit, na nagpapatunay, para malaman natin na talagang part sya ng permitted industry… Ito po ay ipapakita at dadalhin ng non-APOR driver na ito. At ‘yun ngayon ang pagbabasehan natin kung magco-conduct kami ng random checking,” he added.

(There should also be a contact person of this person, at the same time, a business permit [of worker APOR’s workplace] as a proof that they are a part of a permitted industry… The non-APOR driver should bring this, and this will be our basis whenever we conduct random checking.)

Eleazar, however, noted that worker APORs who will fetch a fellow worker APORs are not required to present the said requirements.

No ‘consumer APORs’ out

On the other hand, “consumer APORs,” or those allowed out with quarantine pass to access essential goods, will not be allowed to be fetched even by any authorized persons, the police chief  said.

Eleazar earlier said that inter-city travel for “consumer APORs” will not be allowed under ECQ.

“Ang consumer APOR ay hindi din pwede magpahatid sa non-APOR, eh hayaan na lang natin na working APOR na lang yan,” he pointed out.

(The consumer APORs are not allowed to be fetched by non-APOR, let this be for working APORs.)

‘Hatid-sundo’ used as alibi

Eleazar also called for understanding for the stricter “hatid-sundo” rule, saying it “did not just appear out of thin air, or a whimsical decision of our policy-makers.”

“It was based on scenario-building when the quarantine rules were being crafted and were also corroborated by our police frontliners on the ground who experienced using this as an alibi to disregard and deliberately violate the rules on home quarantine and unnecessary cross-border travels,” he said.

Eleazar also noted that public transportation like jeepneys and buses will still be operational in Metro Manila.

“Ito ay magiging sapat para sa ating mga kababayan na walang sasakyan at motorsiklo, lalo na at pansamantalang magbabawas din ang mga kumpanya ng kanilang mga manggagawa sa panahon ng dalawang linggong ECQ sa Metro Manila,” he said.

(This will be enough for our citizens without vehicles and motorcycles, especially since companies will reduce their commuting workforce during the two-week ECQ.)

“If we are not going to strictly implement the quarantine rules, it will certainly defeat the real purpose of the ECQ,” Eleazar said.

EDV