BY AARON RECUENCO
The Joint Task Force COVID Shield will set up more checkpoints in Metro Manila and nearby provinces as President Duterte approved to revert the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal and Cavite to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ).
Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, commander of the JTF COVID Shield, said that all police commanders under MECQ areas were already tasked to install checkpoints at the boundary of towns and cities in order to contain the movement of the people.
When Metro Manila and nearby areas were placed a more relaxed General Community Quarantine (GCQ), the checkpoints were just limited to the boundaries of the provinces and regions.
“We will add more checkpoint operations at the boundaries of cities and municipalities to ensure that only APOR (Authorized Persons Outside Residence) will be allowed to pass,” said Eleazar.
The PNP has a list of APORs based on the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID)—the APORs are those who work for basic delivery of goods and other essential services.
Eleazar said that those who are not included in the APOR list are mandated to buy their goods and secure basic services within their community, adding that they will be barred from crossing the boundaries of cities and municipalities for the said purposes. (Aaron Recuenco)
