BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has been pressed: stop the “special treatment” to authorized persons outside of residence (APORs) entering Western Visayas.
Negros Occidental’s provincial administrator Rayfrando Diaz said officials in Western Visayas were pressing for this.
“Ngaa lainon ta ang treatment sa APOR kay tawo man na sila?” Diaz stressed.
He added that if the DILG wanted an effective implementation of the uniform travel protocols, then APORs should also be required to present negative results of their reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, and register, too, via the S-Pass System and the StaySafe.PH app for contact tracing.
“We cannot treat them differently from other travelers,” Diaz pointed out.
Data released by the Provincial Health Offices showed Negros Occidental with 171 active cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – more than 100 were locally stranded individuals while the remaining were APORs.
On Monday, the Negros Occidental reopened its borders after Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson signed an executive order adopting Resolution No. 101 issued by the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF).
Travelers bound for the province need to comply with several requirements: an S-Pass permit, a StaySafe.PH application and negative results of their RT-PCR tests 72 hours prior to travel.
Residents of Western Visayas are no longer required to secure an RT-PCR test result.
Under NIATF Resolution No. 101, travelers would no longer be compelled to go on quarantine unless they exhibit symptoms upon arrival.
Travelers are also no longer required to secure travel authorities or health certificates.
APOR from national government agencies and their attached agencies, on the other hand, must show their identification cards, travel orders and itineraries.
They must likewise pass symptom-screening at the ports of entry and exit./PN