Gov’t personnel on official business now exempted from LGUs’ testing, quarantine protocols

This general view a hall converted into a 500-bed capacity COVID-19 coronavirus quarantine facility at the World Trade Center in Manila on April 23, 2020, one of the facilities to house mild cases of the disease. – The facility will be managed by military medical personnel. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — Government officials and personnel on official business are now allowed to travel without undergoing the mandatory testing and quarantine protocols of their destination’s local government units, Malacañang said Friday.

“[A]pproved by the IATF is the unimpeded travel of government officials/personnel on official business, including employees of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, to their place of destination,” Inter–Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

Roque said government officials are exempt from testing and quarantine protocols “as long as they can present valid IDs issued by their respective government agency and an original or a certified true copy of the Travel Authority/Order issued by the Department Secretary or his/her designated official.”

They, however, must pass the symptom screen at the point of their destination or upon boarding public transportation.

(NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / file photo)

They must also strictly comply with minimum public health standards like wearing of face masks, face shields and observing physical distancing, Roque added.

(Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP) 

Local government units have varying requirements before returning residents are allowed to enter their jurisdiction.

Some require presenting a negative swab test result, undergoing 14-day quarantine, securing a travel pass from the police of their point of origin, among others.

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