By Vanne Elaine Terrazola
The government's protocols for transporting locally stranded individuals home should not be changed "as often as the sea tide," Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said on Monday.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Recto commented on the plight of stranded individuals who have been staying outside the Manila North Harbor for days in hoping to get a trip back to their home provinces.
According to a report by GMA News on Sunday, the individuals, aside from not having enough money, were told to undergo swab testing for COVID-19 first.
The stranded persons said they were not informed about this requirement.
"The huddled, hungry, drenched stranded travelers painstakingly complied with all the health and police requirements, only to be denied boarding because of a new requirement. Their dreams of going home capsized on land," Recto said in a statement.
"Transportation protocols should not change as often as the sea tide," he added.
Recto said the "North Harbor fiasco is a wake-up call as loud as a ship horn blast to those responsible for the sea travel of residents who are medically-cleared to return to their homes."
The government had suspended the transit of locally -stranded individuals in at least 5 places in the Visayas and Mindanao.