Following the public uproar created by the strict rule on “hatid-sundo” of essential workers during the August 6-20 Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has set new requirements to prevent fetchers, who are not authorized to go out and make unnecessary travels, from being barred entry and exit of the National Capital Region.
For non-Authorized Person Outside Residence (non-APOR) who would fetch both the healthcare workers and Workforce APORs, they are required to present the following to the policemen manning and supervising the border control points:
- Certificate of Employment (COE) of the Worker-APOR from the Employer, indicating the name of the designated non-APOR driver/fetcher of the worker-APOR, the make and plate number of the vehicle to be used, and the contact number of the employer;
- Copy of Business Permit of the Employer
PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar said these requirements are important during the conduct of random counter-checking of policemen, especially at the border control points or the Quarantine Control Points.
“Through this random counter-checking, we will be able to verify if the documents are fake or legitimate so I am warning our kababayan not to resort into forging these documents or abuse the issuances of these documents because we will make sure that you would be held accountable for that,” said Eleazar.
Workforce vs Consumer APORs
Eleazar clarified that APORs are generally classified into two: the Workforce APORs and the Consumer APORs.
Workforce APORs are essential workers like healthcare workers and employees of the companies and industries that are allowed to operate under ECQ. They are allowed to go out and cross borders.
Customer APORs on the other hand, are those who are allowed to avail of the goods and services of the companies and industries that are allowed to operate under ECQ. But they are not allowed to cross borders of the city and the municipality where live and are encouraged to avail them within their localities.
The third group of APORs are those whose travels are necessary due to medical and humanitarian reasons, such as those transporting relatives who are in immediate need of medical attention, and those who have to travel due to the death of immediate relatives.
Need to be firm
In a statement issued on Thursday, August 5, Eleazar explained that the strict rule on hatid-sundo was implemented because of the past experiences of some people using it as an excuse to go out and make unnecessary travels.
“The rule on ‘hatid-sundo’ and its strict implementation 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 are being crafted and was 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,” said Eleazar.
If the PNP would be lenient in its implementation, Eleazar said the real objective of the implementation of the ECQ in Metro Manila from August 6 to 20 will be defeated.
“Malinaw ang intensyon ng mas mahigpit na pagpapatupad ng ECQ ngayon: Ang limitahan ang paglabas ng ating mga kababayan dahil na rin sa banta ng Delta Variant ng COVID-19 (The objective of the ECQ implementation is clear: To limit the people from going out due to the threat of the Delta variant of COVID-19). If we are not going to strictly implement the quarantine rules, it will certainly defeat the real purpose of the ECQ,” said Eleazar.
“Personal akong humihingi ng paumanhin at pang-unawa sa ating mga kababayan na maapektuhan ng patakarang ito subalit kailangan naming manidindigan sa PNP dahil ito ang alituntuning inutos sa inyong kapulisan na ipatupad para sa kaligtasan ng lahat, at para sa kapakanan ng ating bayan (I personally apologize and ask for understanding of the people that would be affected by this but we in the PNP should stand up in the implementation of the rules that the police were asked to do, for the safety of everybody and the welfare of our country),” he added.