Baguio rules for ‘pass-through’ travelers / 3 puroks locked down

CITY HALL BEAT

Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – Drop-and-go travelers are no longer exempted from this summer capital’s requirements.
    This after the city noted rampant violations of said privilege given to said traveler classification, mostly private vehicle drivers who must bring in passengers to the city and leave on the same day.
    Lawyer Althea Alberto, executive assistant IV of Mayor Benjamin Magalong, said a lot of travelers had been taking advantage of the privilege which included exemption from the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing requirement.
    “They were supposed to leave the city within the day but our checkpoints have noted that a lot them were taking the opportunity to stay in the city for more than one day,” Alberto said.
    She said these travelers are required to leave identification cards at the checkpoints and claim them upon exit.  However many of them were able to get back their IDs a couple of days or more after their entry.
    In view of this, drop and go travelers will now be subjected to same entry requirements as their passengers based on the city’s travel protocols.
    At the same time, the city will also impose requirements for passing-through-only travelers to also address similar problems on privilege abuses.
    Passing-through-only travelers who are Authorized Persons Outside Residences (APORs) must present any documentary proof of travel purpose to their destinations such as employment ID, professional ID or travel order issued by their employers.
    APORs comprise those: (1) officials, workers, personnel, and agents from both the government and private sectors who are allowed inter-zonal (travel between provinces, highly urbanized cities and independent component cities under different quarantine classifications) and intra-zonal (travel between provinces, highly urbanized cities and independent component cities under the same quarantine classification) travel for purposes of work, industry, or official function; (2) persons travelling for indispensable transactions that require their physical presence (3) and students who are currently enrolled in educational, instructional, and training, institutions that have been permitted to hold limited face-to-face classes.
    Non-APORs meanwhile will be required to obtain a QR-coded Tourist Pass (QTP) by registering at visita.baguio.gov.ph.
    Unlike staying entrants who must wait for the approval of their QTPs before proceeding to the city, passing-through-only travelers will receive their QTPs automatically.
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Three puroks in Irisan barangay were placed on lockdown status last week for failing to comply with the minimum public health standards against Covid-19.
    Mayor Magalong said wide-scale lockdowns will continue to be implemented over areas that will exhibit recalcitrant behavior as the city tightens measures in anticipation of new surges due to increased people mobility and the presence of new and more dangerous variants.
    Lockdown orders had been recently limited to the household or workplace of the positive cases but special cases such as overt and repeated violations of health protocols warrant wider scope lockdowns based on recommendations of the medical officers in charge of the area.
    The mayor said the lockdown order implemented over the three puroks  is not the same as the hard lockdown imposed in the past.
    “This order will be for one week and will not include the APORs (Authorized Persons Outside of Residences).  One member of each affected family will also be allowed to go out to procure commodities,” the mayor said.
    “Essentially, this will prohibit purok residents from loitering or going out with no important purpose.  We also hope that they will learn to respect our rules which we have been implementing for a long time now for their own protection,” he added.
    Lockdown impositions had been included in the city’s COVID-19 control strategies and the mechanism was based on the Application of the Zoning Containment Strategy of the National Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.”