By Genalyn Kabiling At least 400 buses offered by a political ally will be deployed to help transport Filipino repatriates and locally stranded individuals to their hometowns, President Duterte announced Monday night. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Narvacan Councilor Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson (KARL ALONZO/Presidential Photo / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) In a televised address Monday, the President bared that Mayor Luis "Chavit" Singson of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur has offered the buses that may be used by the task force to help bring home returning residents. The family of Singson owns Partas bus company. The former governor also serves as president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines. "They’re talking of kaibigan natin si Chavit Singson. Nagmamagandang-loob ‘yung tao. He’s offering 400 buses at the disposal of the task force (They're talking about our friend Chavit Singson. The person made a kind gesture. He's offering 400 buses at the disposal of the task force)," Duterte said during a televised briefing Monday night. The President left to the task force to decide on the dispatch of the buses offered by Singson. He noted that bus deployment in Visayas is scheduled on July 4 in Mindanao and July 5 in Visayas. "Kayo na ho ang mag ano kung --- (It's up to you to) distribute so that maybe the target areas where they should be delivered could be as near as where the trucks would head for and park there to --- for them to disembark," he said. The President also appealed anew to local government officials to accept the returning residents to their hometowns. He cautioned that local officials might run into "a gamut of so many problems" if they deny the entry of Filipinos. "They cannot refuse to accept a Filipino. P

* i** patay ka diyan. You cannot do that, deny the Filipino to go home? Mahirap ‘yan. Tapos asymptomatic, hindi mo alam kung may...(That's difficult. And the person is asymptomatic) you do not even know if he’s contaminated or not," he said. "Pakiusapan lang sila na tanggapin na lang nila tutal wala na rin tayong magawa Pilipino eh. Even if they are actually contaminated, if they want to be --- to go home maybe to get well or to die there, hindi mo ma-deny sa Pilipino ‘yan. (Let's appeal to them to accept these people because we cannot do anything, they're Filipinos. Even if they are actually contaminated, if they want to go home to get well or to die there, you cannot deny that from a Filipino)," he said. At present, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana reported to the President that 56,000 OFWs have returned to their home provinces. Another 40,000 OFWs are expected to arrive in the next two months. On the locally stranded persons in Metro Manila, Lorenzana said the number has reached 40,000. He said these people have been given temporary shelter in some military camps while waiting for their flights and bus rides home. He said most of these stranded individuals have plane tickets and are just waiting for the reopening of airports in the provinces so they can finally go home. Lorenzana also appealed to other travelers to avoid going to the airport if their flights have not yet been confirmed. Some local officials have called for a more coordinated transit of returning residents following concerns that some have tested positive upon arrival in their areas of jurisdictions. The national government decided to require OFWs and stranded persons to undergo coronavirus testing before they board their plane or bus home.