Non-APORs, LSIs need police pass in restricted areas

MANILA, Philippines — Persons who are not authorized outside residence, including locally stranded individuals, need to secure a pass from police to pass through areas with restricted travel status on the way to their destination that does not have travel restrictions.

The Joint Task Force (JTF) COVID Shield said it would be issuing Travel Pass-through Permits or TPPs amid the easing of travel and quarantine restrictions.

JTF commander Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar over the weekend said despite the easing of restrictions, several local governments still decided to maintain a restricted travel policy, where non-authorized persons outside residence (APORs) would still be required to present travel authority (TA).

To prevent any issues like being barred from passing through areas with restrictions to get to their destinations, the TPPs can be presented.

Any travel documents, however, would no longer be required from both APORs and non-APORs if the local government unit (LGU) of destination and the area they would pass through have no travel restrictions.

Unlike TAs, TPPs can be obtained without medical clearance. Prior coordination between the local government of origin and the destination would also be waived under the TPP.

“In order to ensure hassle-free travel, non-APORs should secure a TPP before their travel because they might be barred from passing through an LGU or LGUs with Restricted Travel Policy. The TPP will spare them from this kind of scenario,” Eleazar said in a statement yesterday.

“This document will be presented to policemen manning the Quarantine Control Points, or border control checkpoints, to allow them to pass the travel restrictions being implemented in LGUs with restricted status,” he added.

Police commanders nationwide have already been ordered to make TPPs available upon request.

Eleazar said police assigned to areas with unrestricted travel policies should not deny entry nor passage of travelers, even without TPPs or TAs as they are no longer required under such circumstances.

TPPs and TAs, he added, are applicable in areas under general community quarantine and modified GCQ. TPPs, however, would not be valid in areas under higher quarantine status.