Cebu City prepares first 2,000 travel certificates for LSIs

LSIs from Manila arrive in Bohol on Tuesday, July 28. 2020. |  Contributed photo/PCG-7

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City spokesperson Rey Gealon said that there are 2,000 authority to travel certificates ready for release by August 1, 2020 for locally stranded individuals (LSIs) who have completed the processing of their documents.

Gealon said that these LSIs have completed their 14-day-quarantine, have been cleared by the barangays of their temporary residences, and have secured the necessary documents for the certification.

Following the release of these certificates, the LSIs will only need one more document to go home, which is the availability to travel certificate from the Cebu City Hall. This is to ensure that the local government unit (LGU) of destination is ready to accept the LSIs going home.

“Moanhi lang sila sa City Hall kay issuehan nato silag availability to travel certificate aron makauli na gyod sila sa ilahang mga lugar,” said Gealon.

(They only need to go to the City Hall and we will issue them availability to travel certificate so they can go home to their respective hometowns.)

There are 18,000 LSIs stuck in Cebu City. In a previous statement, Councilor Joel Garganera, who serves as the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) czar, promised that they will be able to go home by August 2020.

Read: Cebu City Councilor says 18,000 LSIs to get travel authority by August

For now, the city is offering financial aid to LSIs through the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), reaching up to P5,000 depending on where they will go home to.

LSIs who are returning to the southern parts of Cebu province are set to avail of assistance amounting to P1,000 to P1,500 while those who are going home to others parts of the Visayas could get P1,500 to P3,000.

Those who are going home to parts of Luzon and Mindanao could get cash aid of P3,000 to P5,000 from the City Hall.

To avail of the city’s cash aid program, LSIs are advised to submit a valid Identification Card that would show his/her hometown address, a copy of the travel authority issued by the Philippine National Police, and a certification issued by the barangay in Cebu City where he/she is residing.

Documents that are PDF form are to be emailed to [email protected]. /bmjo