By Genalyn Kabiling
The government has extended the grace period for the application of identification cards for media workers until March 21 so they can operate in quarantined Luzon.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the media workers must secure passes from the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) on or before the Saturday deadline.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles (Photo from Karlo Nograles / Facebook page / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
At present, media workers are allowed to travel within the quarantine area using their company IDs.
"The provisional period of seventy-two (72) hours granted to media personnel to continue operating in Luzon is hereby extended until March 21, 2020," Nograles said in a Palace press briefing late Tuesday, reading the operating guidelines on the island-wide quarantine.
"Thereafter, only those who bear the IATF (inter-agency task force) accreditation ID as issued by the PCOO may be exempted from the strict home quarantine requirement," he added.
The government earlier gave media entities until Thursday to get the special passes so they can operate even as an enhanced community quarantine is in effect in Luzon.
Media workers allowed to pass police checkpoints
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Archie Gamboa, meantime, said he has directed the police units to allow media workers to pass checkpoints using their companies IDs for now.
Gamboa made the comment after receiving reports that San Juan City police have barred the entry of some media personnel into the city despite showing their credentials.
"We will check on that because ang (our) guidance namin sa aming (to our) lower units is the different media people can use their company IDs, and this would suffice for them to pass checkpoints, unless, iyon nga, baka may (there might be) misinterpretation doon sa (with the) local government units who might be imposing a different thing," he said in the same Palace press briefing.
"But the intention really of the inter-agency is to have a uniformed implementation of these things. But I will personally check on that," he said.
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