President Duterte pushed for the unimpeded return of Filipinos to their residences.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday pushed for the unimpeded return of Filipinos to their residences as he expressed concern about their safety.
On Monday night, President Duterte said in a televised address that no amount of police power and lockdown could prevent any Filipino from returning home as the national government imposed travel curbs in order to stem the rapid increase in coronavirus cases.
President Duterte pushed for the unimpeded return of Filipinos to their respective residences as he expressed concern about their safety if they have nowhere else to go.
“Kasi noong una, pati ‘yung mga taga-probinsya hindi puwedeng makauwi sa kanila because of this lowdown and everything. No amount of lockdown, no amount of police power can stop a Filipino citizen from going home lalo na pauwi, lalo na pauwi. Saan mo patirahin yan,” President Duterte said.
The national government recently revised its entry restrictions for travelers in the Philippines as part of health precautions, allowing all Filipinos to return home.
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The Inter-Agency Tsk Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) issued a new resolution stating that all Filipino citizens — whether overseas Filipino worker (OFW) or returning overseas Filipino (ROF) — “shall be allowed to return to the Philippines.”
Previously, the task force wanted to temporarily block non-OFWs from entering the Philippines following the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.
The national government’s revised travel restriction now applied to certain foreigners.
Exempted from the travel ban were diplomats, foreign seafarers under the “green lanes” program for crew change, foreigners involved in medical repatriation, foreign spouses and children of Filipino citizens, and those involving in humanitarian and emergency cases.
In the additional restrictions implemented in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces, the national government had also allowed only essential travel in and out of the general community quarantine (GCQ) “bubble” in the next two weeks.
The restrictions, imposed from March 22 to April 4, 2021, included ban on non-essential trips, mass gatherings, and indoor dining in restaurants in a bid to slow down the coronavirus transmission.
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