PR
In coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP) headed by General Archie Francisco Gamboa, the Joint Task Force COVID Shield has ordered all police commanders in Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal to set up more checkpoints especially in city and municipal boundaries to ensure compliance on President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s order placing those areas under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) effective August 4.
Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, said police commanders were also tasked to deploy enough number of their personnel to supervise and man the additional checkpoints to effectively contain the movement of the people under the MECQ which states that only Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APOR) are allowed to go out.
“We will be implementing stricter measures in areas under MECQ for 15 days starting midnight. This is not something new to our kababayan in Metro Manila and the four nearby provinces because we have been under this community quarantine before so what we are asking is for cooperation of everybody to make the implementation of the security measures both for the public and your Philippine National Police,” said PLt. Gen. Eleazar.
PLt. Gen. Eleazar advised residents of Metro Manila and the four provinces that would be placed under MECQ from August 4 to August 18 to avail of the basic goods and services in their respective communities in compliance with the safety protocol of staying at home and avoiding unnecessary travels.
He explained that under MECQ, only one person per household will be allowed to go out to avail of the basic goods for the entire family.
But those who would be allowed to go out are required to have a quarantine pass which is expected to be issued by the Local Government Units (LGUs) of areas that would be reverted to MECQ, according to PLt. Gen. Eleazar.
Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (SILG) Eduardo Año said that he had already discussed with the mayors of Metro Manila the guidelines on the MECQ, particularly on the aspect of quarantine pass.
“Under MECQ, there is a need for a quarantine pass. The LGUs will be issuing quarantine passes anew and we will leave it to them on how they would implement it,” said SILG Año.
It was recalled that the quarantine pass requirement was no longer required when the General Community Quarantine was implemented in Metro Manila and almost all parts of the country.
PLt. Gen. Eleazar stressed that as soon as the MECQ is implemented, those who are not listed under APOR will not be allowed to cross the borders of the cities and municipalities to avail of the basic goods and services.
“We highly encourage them to buy food and avail other basic goods and services in their respective communities because they will not be allowed to pass the Quarantine Control Points which we will set up anew at the borders of cities and municipalities of Metro Manila and the four provinces that would be reverted to MECQ,” said PLt. Gen. Eleazar.
The number of QCPs was reduced when the GCQ was implemented. Only QCPs of provincial and regional borders were retained.
As to the motorcycle back-riding, PLt. Gen. Eleazar said they will still wait for the guideline from the National Task Force Against COVID-19.
