Food delivery personnel need only to present ID at checkpoints

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) reiterated on Friday, March 27, that drivers of vehicles delivering food are not required to present documents other than their IDs at quarantine checkpoints.

Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, PNP deputy director for operations and commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) CV Shield, said they have received reports that local authorities in Pami, Laguna were blocking food delivery trucks whose drivers could not present quarantine passes issued by the town.

He said such scenario may also be happening in other parts of the country.

"Merong food pass, commodity pass, work pass, pati mga emergency pass na hindi naman kailangan kasi ang basic talaga ID lang para malaman natin kung sila ay authorized," Eleazar said.

"If individual LGUs will work on their own instead of as a team, we are doomed to fail on this, Dapat maliwanagan ang lahat, lokal na pamahalaan pati na siyempre barangay, uulit-ulitin natin ang cargo 'wag harangan," he added.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which oversees the PNP, earlier said local government authorities should abide by the guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in the entire Luzon.

Under the guidelines on the enhanced community quarantine, movement of cargoes especially food and other necessities should remain unhampered.

The quarantine, which will last until April 14, mandates all the more than 53 million residents of Luzon to stay at home to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Only one person per household is allowed to venture out for a supply run.

Public transport is suspended and food is regulated.

The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has killed 45 people in the Philippines. A total of 707 cases of infection have been confirmed. Twenty-eight people have recovered as of March 26, 2020. (SunStar Philippines)