JTF COVID Shield commander said some APORs abuse travel privilege

The Joint Task Force COVID-Shield commander, Police Lt. General Guillermo Eleazar, has called on  Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APORs), to not abuse the privilege given to them by the government.

According to Eleazar, reports from policemen have reached his office that a number of APORs who were given exemptions — including the identification cards issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) — use it as an excuse to “deliberately violate” the strict quarantine rule on non-essential travel.

“They should not use this exemption to engage in travels that are not connected to their job because this is really unfair to the majority of our kababayans who are strictly abiding by the government’s prohibition not to engage in non-essential travels in this time of pandemic,” said Eleazar in a statement.

To be listed as an APOR, a person’s line of work must be among the industries permitted by the government to operate during the quarantine. There are industries that were classified as essential and provide basic needs and services to the people required to stay home.

“The main and only reason behind the exemption from community quarantine is for them to go to their places of work, because the nature of their jobs is essential to provide the basic goods and services to our people under community quarantine, and for them to go back to their homes,” Eleazar added.

He has since tasked the local police commanders and their personnel supervising and manning the control points to scrutinize the identification cards and other documents presented to them, particularly the home address and place of work, in order to determine whether or not the travel is essential.

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