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Task force beefs up border control against LSIs

THE Joint Task Force (JTF) Covid Shield has ordered police commanders to beef up border controls amid reports that some locally stranded individuals (LSIs) are sneaking past the checkpoints to go home to their provinces.

Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, JTF Covid Shield commander and PNP deputy chief for operations, said they have coordinated with the Philippine Coast Guard, particularly against LSIs who try to go home to Eastern Visayas via sea.

“We are further intensifying border control operations in these areas because we have been receiving reports that some LSIs are illegally entering some areas in the region through small boats and even cargo and other vehicles,” said Eleazar.

Eleazar said he ordered strict and mandatory inspection of all cargo vehicles and other vehicles before boarding ships bound for Eastern and Western Visayas.

He said their units in Western Visayas and Cebu, including Mactan, have been alerted.

Police and Coast Guard units in Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Camiguin, where travel of LSIs from Metro Manila has been suspended since July 1, were also given the same directive.

“We have to be very strict about this since what is at stake is the health of the people in those areas because there is a high possibility that these LSIs illegally entering the places where travel ban was implemented did not go through the proper medical examination,” said Eleazar.

The National Task Force Against COVID-19 earlier ordered the suspension of the repatriation of LSIs to Western and Eastern Visayas, Cebu and Mactan Island based on the request of their respective local government units.

The suspension is aimed at decongesting quarantine facilities. LSIs are required to undergo quarantine upon arrival, among others.

Earlier, some LGUs in the Visayas region blamed the spike in coronavirus cases in their areas on returning overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and LSIs.

The task force has since suspended issuance of travel permits to LSIs bound for the Visayas. (SunStar Philippines)

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